Magic
by Astarpen
Summary: After getting kicked out at sixteen for getting pregnant, Santana has worked hard to support her son Antonio and give him the best life she can as a single mother. Making minimum wage while trying to support a growing boy is difficult, but all that changes when she answers a strange add in the paper to become a magician's assistant.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Ready for a 72 Chapter beast? Well then welcome to my new fic, Magic. It is finally complete and just in time as well, I had no idea what I was going to post this weekend. Full story is up for my backers, that being said. Welcome, I'll try and update at least twice a week. Remember take the time to review they make me happy, as I continue to work on stories, I like knowing that people are _reading_ and enjoying, and engaging. **

**Song: Magic - B.O.B**

 **Summary: After getting kicked out at sixteen for getting pregnant, Santana has worked hard to support her son Antonio and give him the best life she can as a single mother. Making minimum wage while trying to support a growing boy is difficult, but all that changes when she answers a strange add in the paper to become a magician's assistant.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own glee**

* * *

 **Pandora's Antiquities.**

Santana stared at the address that she had written down, and then looked back at the worn down shop. This _couldn't_ be right. She had never even been to this part of the city before and it seemed old and weathered despite all the other shops around it. It looked completely out of place, like it was in dire need of an update. It looked like a store from way back in the day, before modern technology had hit and it didn't sit right with her. Even with all the other stores around, and the flats on top, the store didn't seem like it got a lot of foot traffic. It was almost enough to make her turn around and walk away, there was probably no way that they could pay the outrageous salary that they had promised in the advertisement that she had seen.

Thirty dollars an hour to be a magician's assistant? It sounded far too good to be true, but she figured it was just how much she would be making a show. A few shows a week—well even just two shows at an hour a piece was sixty dollars more than she would make working at the diner. A bit more cash would help out a great deal especially with Antonio. It was nearly back to school and she felt a bit guilty, she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to afford all his back to school supplies this year. For once she'd like to give her son something that hadn't been used before and clothes that fit properly. For him, it was worth _trying_ at least. If it was a scam, then it was a scam but she needed to try.

Santana exhaled and grabbed the door to the store, feeling a _buzz_ underneath her fingertips. She had worked in the service industry; she could _do this_. How hard could it possibly be to wear a few sequins and smile at an audience and maybe help with the illusions. She opened the door and walked in, fixing a pleasant smile on her face. She froze, there was no one in the store and instead of magic tricks and card tricks laid out on the table, it just seemed to be a bookstore. Her heart dropped a bit, and she looked around. "Uh—hello?" she called out. She walked up to the old worn down counter and spotted a bell on the counter. She glances at the doorway behind the counter. There's a black curtain hanging there to prevent any prying eyes and that feeling of unease is back, but she was here and there _probably_ wasn't a crazed knife wielding psychopath behind the curtain, she looks at the bell again before hitting it.

There's a loud crash that comes from the curtain causing Santana to jump back in surprise. "No, no, no!" Came a male voice from behind the curtain.

Santana winces and takes a step back, if that was the person who was supposed to be hiring her then she had not made a good first impression, she could still salvage this. She just needed to be charming and—she pauses and glances down to the ground, she could have sworn that something green had just darted across the floor in her peripheral vision. "Uh?" She begins again only for the curtain to be pulled back and a man with wild blonde hair and startling hazel eyes comes tumbling out a sour look on his features. She had most definitely messed something up already and this didn't bode well for her future job. "Hello, I'm Santana and I'm—" She stopped when he held up his hands.

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to catch the damn thing?" He demanded angrily, he grabbed a towel and wiped what appeared to be some viscous fluid off his hands. He grimaced and tossed the towel away before studying the woman in front of him carefully. He squints a bit at her, "What are you even doing here? The sign says closed, and I'm _pretty_ sure I locked the store."

Santana turns to glance at the door, "The only sign in the window says 'Help Wanted.' And the door was unlocked, when I tried it—look do you have a manager or someone you work for, I'm looking for a—" Santana glances at the paper and then back at the man in front of her. "Mr. Fabray? I saw this add in the newspaper and I came to apply for the job. You know as the magician's assistant—"

He squints at her again, and leans forward before looking at the shop window and then back at her, then back at the shop window again before looking at her. "You're hired."

Santana stared at him like he had lost his head, "Excuse me?"

"You're hired. When can you start? Tomorrow? Please tell me you can start tomorrow. As you can see things have been—hectic since my last assistant." He makes a face, "You have no idea what I've needed to do to survive! I don't know how people live like this."

"Like—?"

"I don't know _this_." He waves his hand around wildly. "How am I supposed to create magic like this?"

"Uh—" Santana began this was quickly beginning to seem like a terrible mistake. She had just met a crazy person, of course he was probably talking about his illusions. Then again he had just hired her just like that.

"So you're hired Samantha," he said eagerly.

Santana's eyes narrowed. " _Santana_. My name is Santana. Look, Mr. Fabray—"

"Ugh, don't call me that. That's my father's name. Mr. Fabray," he shudders at the thought. "The names is Charles Reagan Fabray. You may call me Charlie. Charles never really stuck, but whoever heard of a magician named _Charlie_." Charlie makes a face at his own name. "So is that a yes on starting tomorrow?"

He was definitely crazy, she should just turn the job down and walk away but she needed the money. Maybe she could negotiate with him. He did seem pretty desperate to hire someone and it wasn't as if this place was crawling with people either trying to apply. A position that paid thirty dollars an hour in this town, who had people who _wanted_ to be famous—it was practically unheard of. "Look, uh Charlie, I've got another job and responsibilities and I'm not quite sure I can learn what I need to learn to help you do magic by tomorrow—what happened to your last assistant?"

"Poached," Charlie explains his face twitching in annoyance. "What happened to _loyalty_?" Charlie mused.

Santana sighed as he turned around and began to rummage through one of the many drawers, "Look, Charlie, I'm sorry your assistant got poached but I don't think this job is right for me. I mean, this place seems pretty run down and I don't know how much business you get—I don't really want to wear sequins or you know smile all the time—"

"So don't? I don't have a dress code or anything, just no open-toe shoes. There was an incident with my last assistant—it was a mess. You can wear sequins if you want, I'm not going to stop you, and you don't have to smile if you don't want to. It's weird when people smile and they aren't happy." Charlie insists not bothering to look at her as he continued to root through the drawer.

"Okay, so what are the hours—I mean you have a schedule right, practice time? It's going to need to be flexible, I'm working at a diner and that's a bit of a commute but—I really need the flexibility because I have a six-year-old."

It's enough to get Charlie to turn to her. "So quit, this is a full-time job." Charlie insists slamming a drawer closed and opening another. "You can be as flexible as you want when it comes to your child, I understand that being a mother must be difficult, my mother informs me of this fact every time I see her, but you're not going to have time for _another_ job." He snorts derisively before slamming another drawer shut. "I can't believe they took my brownies. I mean _come on_."

"Brownies?" Santana asks before she can stop herself. She shakes her head when he turns to look at her. "Never mind, look I just don't think that this is going to work out—"

Charlie looks up incredulously. "I can offer you more money if that's what this is about. Fifty dollars an hour. Or do you want a salary? I can do a salary—" He cocks his head at the side, "Forty hours a week at fifty dollars an hour, that's twenty thousand a week?" He frowns. "No, wait two thousand—" He pauses and thinks about it for a second, four times five was twenty and then add two zeros. "Right, two thousand."

Santana gapes. There has to be something wrong with him. "You're talking real money, not like monopoly money or some other—"

"I can pay you in euro's if you want."

"No I don't want euro's—" Santana closes her eyes and tries to shake herself back into reality, "What's the catch?"

"Catch? There's no catch? I mean unless you see anything running around here. You might have to catch a creature every once in a while, but—" A bang interrupts him from the back and he frowns. "Look, I really need you to start tomorrow. What will it take?"

Santana frowns. It almost sounds too good to be true but from everything he's saying she has no reason to say no. Still, he seems desperate and she's not about to give in to his first offer. "Well it is a little bit of a commute."

"So move into one of the apartments upstairs. I own the whole building and you can have whatever one you want. Hell, you can have my last assistant's apartment. She renovated it so it's pretty modern and I think there are schools nearby, I see teenagers all the time."

"And you know I've never done this before."

"I hope not. I can't deal with another unionized assistant; I couldn't even pay one of them to work with me." He adds the last part under his breath. He hates the union. Especially since most of them _thought_ they actually could assist him.

Santana's eyes narrowed skeptically. "Why not?"

"Because, they've already been taught. Every magician is different; I don't have time to break bad habits or correct things. I need someone who has never done this before so I can teach them what I need them to know. The last thing I need is another _incident_ , because someone decided to not listen to my instructions." Charlie studies Santana, "Don't cut corners, and _listen_ to me and you'll be fine."

"I'll be fine?" She repeats. He almost makes it sound like something _dangerous_. "You said your last assistant was poached."

"She was, so was my first one, the one in the middle _well_ —look I need an assistant and since you're _new_ I'll take the time to teach you what I need you to know, I won't ask you to do anything that you're not ready for."

Santana can't believe it. She had been kicked out at sixteen when she got pregnant with Antonio and barely got her GED. A job earning over a hundred thousand dollars a year? She would be able to go back home and show her parents that she had _made_ something of herself despite having a child. One they had wanted her to get rid of. "Okay, before I agree you're going to need to tell me about the benefits. Do you offer dental?"

He nods quickly, glad that his turncoat of a former assistant had at least forced him to get a standard benefit package. And by _standard_ he meant the best package that was available. "Vision too."

"What about a signing bonus?" She asks, mostly just shooting for the stars at this point. She can't think of a _single_ reason to say no and if it gets Tony out of the terrible public school he's currently in and away from the gangs that seem to pour out of their subsidized government housing, she's all for it.

Charlie crinkles his nose, even though he was paying her tremendously less than a unionized assistant, she was definitely bargaining like one but he really was desperate. It had been two months since he had put the sign up in the window, and she had been the _only_ person to see it. Not to mention to see his ad in the paper and come down to the store. "Fine, just be here first thing in the morning." He stops and looks at Santana who seems to be interested in pushing her luck. "Anything else?"

"Can I see the apartment beforehand?" She would need to fill in some paperwork, but with the signing bonus she could _hire_ someone to take care of all the moving for them. Then she could do some research on the schools in the area and maybe she could send Antonio to a really good school.

Charlie nods and opens another drawer, and frowns. He was definitely going to go out later today and get a new family of brownies. At least then he'd be able to find things again. He grabs a set of keys and motions for Santana to follow him out of the store so she can see her new apartment. He should probably get some papers drawn out so she doesn't get poached.


	2. Chapter 2

Santana sighed as she looked both ways before crossing the street, holding her son's hand tightly as she shifted the Mickey Mouse backpack on her shoulder. She hoped that she had packed him enough snacks and activities to last the entire day before they made the commute home. Taking your kid to work on the very first day of work, was _not_ going to make a good impression but she didn't have another choice. Her usual childcare arrangements had fallen through and she didn't have time to find someone else so last minute. Well, not without alerting her boss at the diner that she wasn't actually out sick. She had never called in sick before, but she wasn't quite ready to get rid of the safety net. This really did seem too good to be true and six years of being on her own, had taught her to be weary. Things that seemed to go to be true, generally were. "Mijo, this job is _super_ important to mommy okay? So I'm going to need you to please behave yourself."

Antonio looked up at her carefully as they walked down the street, before nodding carefully. "I'll be good mommy."

Santana smiles warmly, if he promised to be a good boy he was going to _be_ a good boy. She had raised him as best as she could and she had gotten lucky that he was such a decent kid, which was why she needed to get him out of that neighborhood. They'd come for him eventually and moving out now while he was this young was the best possible thing for them. It worried her that he wasn't very good at making friends, and he was a bit shy. Maybe all that would change now. "You know, my new boss—he does magic."

It's enough to get Antonio to turn to her his eyes wide. "Really?"

"Yeah—I'm going to be his assistant, so maybe he can teach you a few tricks, or he can at least show you some. You know a magician never reveals his secrets," Santana smiles as they make their way to the store, in the early morning it doesn't look quite as shabby as it did the previous day. Maybe she had just been hypercritical. She shakes her head and opens the door, holding it open for Antonio to go inside. "Please don't touch anything and _be_ careful not to step on anything Antonio. I think he loses his animals a lot."

Antonio froze and immediately looked down at the ground suspiciously, he didn't want to accidentally step on an animal. "Can I play with his pets?" Antonio asked.

Santana hesitated for a moment, if Charlie was losing his creatures all the time then he probably wasn't the _most_ responsible person she had ever met. Plus, she was certain that he was a tiny bit certifiable. "Well, we'll see what pets he has and then we can ask him, okay?" Antonio nods eagerly and she smiles at him once more before turning to look at the store. It was _definitely_ cleaner than it had been the day before, in fact it looked absolutely spotless and organized. It almost looked like a _proper_ store. "Wow."

The curtain behind the counter flung open and Charlie stumbled out a huge grin on his face. "Santana!" He paused and glanced at the clock on the wall. "You're late, but I'll let it slide, look at how clean this place is! Organized as well. Who knows we might be able to open the shop today and—" Charlie trails off his eyes resting on the child beside Santana, who immediately ducked behind Santana's legs. "Santana, don't look now but it seems you were followed in by a _dwarf_. I've never seen a hairless dwarf before. Usually they're quite hairy, got into a drinking contest with one before. I lost. Never gamble or drink with dwarves. Bad for the liver and your wallet, greedy little bastards. I'm actually sort of jealous, I've always wanted that type of facial hair or at least the chest hair. Maybe I can—"

Santana stared as Charlie trailed off and began to open drawers again before pulling out a notepad and a pen and began to jot down some notes on his paper. "No Charlie, I know it's completely unprofessional to bring your kid to work on the first day but the person I normally leave him with is sick. He won't be any trouble, all I need to do is set him up and he'll be fine for a few hours."

Charlie stops writing and looks back at Antonio, "Well that certainly explains the lack of impressive facial and chest hair." He tilts his head towards Antonio for a moment and then at Santana and then back at Antonio. "I hadn't gotten around to child-proofing the store yet," he admits apologetically. "Or the building. It was on my list of things to do—but I lost the list."

Santana blinked, "You were going to childproof the store?"

"Yes of course, but I forgot," Charlie frowns. "I only just got a new assistant," Charlie flashed her a smile and turned back to the boy who was still hiding behind Santana.

Santana immediately steps aside, "Antonio, don't be rude come say hello to my boss. Mr. Fabray—" She glances at Charlie who makes a face. "Uh—Charlie, he's a magician."

Antonio looked at the ground and shuffled forward a bit, "Hello," he mumbles quietly immediately trying to hide behind his mom again.

"Antonio—now that's a proper name for a magician," Charlie mused and shook his head. "Hello, Antonio. It's a pleasure to meet you." Charlie said in a friendly tone. He opens another drawer and turns his attention back to Santana. "You're going to need to sign a contract, you know confidentiality agreement as well as you know the employment contract. It's pretty standard, but we need to make it official."

Santana nodded, she had been expecting this. She had done a bit of research last night into the world of magicians. This seemed to be par for the course, "Of course," she said nodding. He had been poached before so him being a bit paranoid of his tricks being stolen made sense. She approaches the counter taking the pen that he had offered and quickly signs her name where he points.

"Sign there, and there, and there," Charlie mumbled flicking his eyes to the child that was sticking pretty close to Santana. The child was staring at him suspiciously and Charlie couldn't help but stare back. He had always believed in the philosophy that you shouldn't trust little people. He tears his eyes away from the boy and turns back to Santana who had cleared her throat. "One more," Charlie said pointing to the last page. He studies it for a moment, "Good. You're now officially my assistant." He opens the drawer and dumps the contract back into it and pulls out a check. "There's your signing bonus. Don't spend it all in one place."

She gawks over the amount as Antonio studies Charlie with a disapproving gaze. "You don't look like much of a magician."

"Antonio!"

"You don't look like much of a dwarf." Charlie retorts defensively. He's a great magician.

Santana frowns, shaking her head. "Come on Tony, let's find you a place and you can get settled. Then mommy can get to work." She grabs his arm to lead him to a far corner and offers Charlie an apologetic smile, but Tony doesn't budge.

But Charlie doesn't see it, his brow furrowed. "I'm a great magician." He says mostly to himself, then brightening he nods toward Tony. "Go on then, what type of trick do you want me to do? Saw your mom in half?" He was a child, he probably liked that type of illusion magic.

Tony frowns and shakes his head. "Can you pull a bunny out of a hat?"

Charlie grimaces. It was probably just as well, the last woman he had sawed in half—well, that hadn't ended well. He was never really great at _that_ type of magic, that the normal people did. "No. No bunnies. They're creepy with their beady little eyes and homicidal desire for carrots. I can do better." He squints at Antonio, "You're a boy right? Right, you look like one, so how about a dragon. I can do dragons."

Antonio crinkled his nose, "Dragons don't exist."

Santana watched the exchange but she could see that Antonio's interest was relatively peaked. She was interested as well as Charlie began to rummage through the drawers till he picked out a piece of chalk and immediately drew a circle on the counter his hands moving quickly almost a blur of movement, he had clearly done this before and if it was part of the act it seemed to entrance her son. She wondered if she would have to learn how to do that in front of an audience. He finished and put the piece of chalk down studying it carefully.

"Okay, right a dragon," Charlie said after making sure his lines were perfect. He touches the middle of the summoning circle with precision watching as the entire circle lit up. He heard a gasp but ignored it, summoning was _tricky_ business and summoning a dragon was difficult enough without all the distractions.

A glow fills the room as he concentrates, it's a small summoning circle which meant that the dragon would be of a comparable size. The light show that is currently being emitted from the center of the circle. Rays of light start bursting from the central sphere that seems to be a glowing ball of fire—it's not an actual fire ball, those take a little more work, but it's actually a concentration of the magical energy. The rays start to alternate in different colors, no longer white but brilliant flashes of blues and greens. That's good, it means it's not going to be an overly aggressive dragon.

When the light dies down, Charlie immediately places his hand on the small cat-sized black dragon, running his fingers between the two small curved horns that was on his head, to calm the dragon down before it panicked. The dragon immediately flexes its wings spreading out as it gets on its two hind legs letting its tongue fall out of its mouth before it fell back onto all four legs and curled up into a ball and promptly falling asleep.

"No way." Tony gasps in awe. "No _way_!" He repeats again.

"What the fuck is that?" Santana blinks.

Charlie shrugs. "It's a dragon. That's what I said—I said I was going to conjure a dragon."

"I thought you meant some stuffed animal or a _toy_." Santana shrieked when the little dragon coughed up a small fireball in its sleep.

"Why would I summon a _toy_ when I could summon a dragon?" Charlie asked. He shook his head. "Anyway, it doesn't matter—every boy needs a pet dragon." Charlie gently picks up the dragon and bends over so he can give it to Antonio. "I had a dragon when I was a boy, I wasn't very good when it came to pets. Maybe you'll have better luck. But before I give him to you, admit that I'm a _fantastic_ magician."

"Really I get to keep it?" Tony's jaw dropped. His mom's new boss was the _coolest person ever_.

"Of course, like I said every boy needs a pet dragon," Charlie insists not even bothering to look at Santana who looked as if she was close to having a coronary. "Good news is, it's probably sentient which means it'll understand you, dunno if it can talk back. But it can understand you, so it's easier. We'll have a look when it wakes up," Charlie says with a shrug of his shoulders helping Antonio so he's holding the dragon properly. "Doesn't mean that you won't have to train him, training him is important. Oh, if you're going to train a dragon—" Charlie stood up quickly and headed into the area behind the curtain and rummaged around for a bit before coming back with a container. "There you go, dragon treats. Only give it to him when he's good and you're also going to need—" Charlie hops over the counter and moves to one of the book shelves before grabbing a relatively thin book and handing it to Antonio. "This. You're going to need this. How to train your dragon. It has pictures."

Santana stood stock still, shocked at what she had just witnessed. It _couldn't_ be real. This was just some hallucination that didn't quite make any sense. Dragons _didn't_ exist in the real world, and yet in her son's arms was some sort of _lizard_ thing that could breath fire. What the _hell_ had she signed up for?

Antonio grabbed the book and the container of food and quickly moved to a quiet corner without his mom prompting him. "Thank you Mr. Charlie!" He said after he put the dragon down on the ground as gently as he could. He immediately flopped down on the ground and opened the book and began to look through the pictures.

"Just—you know what nevermind." Charlie said dismissively getting up and stretching. "He's going to need to make sure that it doesn't terrorize the brownies. They probably aren't going to be thrilled about a dragon in the house. But at least he's distracted. Maybe I should have gone with something else entirely. A gargoyle. Haven't summoned one of those in a while." Charlie mused moving to get behind his counter again. "Kind of a boring pet, bit creepy too—hmm a gargoyle dragon, that would have been interesting."

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Santana finally seems to be able to come to herself. This man just gave her son a fire breathing dragon as a pet like it was no big dea. Nevermind the fact that she had been expecting a damn card trick and he summed a fucking dragon. For her six year old. A dragon. "A _dragon_ that breathes _fire_?"

"It's _barely_ fire." Charlie dismisses. At that size and age it was more like the heat of a light bulb. He wasn't _that_ irresponsible. Well he was, but still he wanted to keep this assistant. "He's perfectly safe."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Santana snaps at him causing him to cock his head at her. "What the _hell are you_?"

Charlie sighs, "I'm a _magician_. We've been over this and you're my assistant. Your son is perfectly safe and from the looks of it is very into his new pet. Don't worry, dragons are like cats, but he's a child so you now have something that will protect your son no matter what. They're loyal like that."

"I was expecting _card_ tricks, and you know being sawn in _half_ and doing children's birthday parties and maybe doing a few stage shows—not—not what the hell did you do!"

"Well that's ridiculous. I'm a magician, not some fraud." Charlie huffed. Every once in awhile he was strapped for something to fill his time with and he dabbled, but he didn't trust small humans. "Do you want me to do a card trick?"

" _No_ —you'll probably I don't know—turn them into something strange." Santana waved her hands wildly. This wasn't normal and she should have trusted her gut instinct. But a job that was _this_ good, she had known that there was a catch, she had just never suspected it would be this.

"Transmogrification is hardly a specialty of mine, I mean if given time to prepare then maybe—"

"You said that you were a magician."

"I _am_ a magician." Charlie repeats studying her. He pinches the bridge of his nose, maybe he should have done a card trick to break her into this world. "Okay, you need to calm down and let me explain. Long story made ridiculously short, _magic_ as you know it exists. It's considerably more complicated than simply waving a wand around or throwing fireballs—but you know throwing fireballs is cool and so much fun. Things that you believed only existed in stories and myths—well myths and stories had to come from somewhere don't they?"

"You've got to be kidding me! Why doesn't everyone know about this? Why aren't there vampires and elves and you know werewolves roaming the streets. We _live_ in the information age, how does the mass public not know about you?"

"Because mass panic and hysteria isn't good for the human condition?" Charlie shrugs. "We have _people_ in the government, high ranking people that keep us in check. Look honestly, we have _strict_ laws that govern most magicians. We have a government of our own, we have schools and we have punishments when one of us does something that breaks the rules."

Santana exhales slowly, "So like Harry Potter."

Charlie sighed, it probably wouldn't do Santana any good to find out that JK Rowling was a magician. "No. Close, but it's nothing like Harry Potter at all. Reality is much cooler and scarier than anything she could have written."

"Okay, fine, let's say that I believe you and that there is some secret society of wizards—"

"Magicians, we're _magicians_ ," Charlie corrects. He didn't go around waving some phallic object in his hand and shouting spell words.

"Whatever, so there's some secret society of _magicians_ out there, I can't do any of that stuff. How am I supposed to _assist_ you? I thought I was just going to need to get on stage with you maybe perform a few slight of hand tricks that you'd teach me—I didn't think we'd be summoning dragons. I can't _do that_."

"Well you might _have_ been able to if you had gone to school for it and apprenticed with a magician, you certainly have some latent magical ability, whether that translates into actual magical ability is another thing entirely. You saw my ad, and more importantly you passed the second test. You saw my help wanted sign. You clearly have a gift of seeing what isn't there, which is the only reason I offered you this job. If I didn't think you could do it—I'm not _that_ desperate." Charlie studied Santana for a moment. "Did you really think I was giving you _that_ salary for doing card tricks?"

"I asked you if there was a catch and you said I might have to catch some creatures. I can do that—I don't know if I can do _this_. I'm not—you _summoned a dragon_!"

"Well you're my assistant, you're not my apprentice. I'm not old enough to have an apprentice. A lot of what you'll be doing is well—" He frowns. He doesn't actually know his last assistant had been pretty self-sufficient. He didn't actually know what he was paying her for but things got done and she always left a plate of cookies out for him. "Look, you're my assistant, you I don't know _assist me_."

"You're going to need to be a bit more specific than that." Santana blinks, she was beginning to wonder what had happened to all of his assistants before her. "What happened to your assistant?"

"She got poached, I told you that," Charlie answers honestly. He narrowed his eyes, this is why he didn't trust anyone.

"And the one before that?" Santana presses immediately.

Charlie hesitated for a moment. There had been three assistants in total, two of which had gotten poached. The second one, he didn't like talking about. "Oh look, the dragon seems to be waking up, let's go see if it can understand human speech—" At Santana's persistent look, he sighed. "Well it's not like he could walk that well _before_. And he's the idiot that wanted to prove his worth by taking on a manticore when I expressly told him to stay put. The way he tells it, the whole mess was my fault and it's the reason the union won't work with me. I told him to stay put and that I knew what I was doing."

"Did you?"

"Of course, not it was a damn manticore! I was called in to exterminate the damn thing. All you need to know is that I would never put someone else in danger when I'm being foolish."

"Are you ever _not_ foolish?" Santana asks before she can stop herself. "What are you going to say next? That you've _killed_ someone with a unicorn horn."

"That's ridiculous, unicorn products can't _kill_ anyone. They're assholes though, never met a unicorn that wasn't. No idea why people like them so much."

Santana throws up her hand. " _That_ is what you call ridiculous?" He gives her a patronizing smile and she resists the urge to smack him. He could probably turn her into a toad or something. "I—"

"Look, Santana. You're perfectly safe with me, so long as you do exactly what I say and you don't cut corners. I'm not going to put you or your son in any danger. I mean I'm pretty sure my last assistant kept the shop running most of the time while I was out on business. I do the dangerous stuff, you stay in my nice _heavily_ warded store and deal with customers and doing research and you know—all the boring stuff I don't want to do. Like laundry. I don't know how to get snotling snot out of my clothes without ruining them."

Santana chews on her cheek. that didn't sound nearly as bad as she thought it would be. She's definitely used to getting weird unmentionable stains out of her son's clothes. "No more summoning dragons, and that thing needs to go."

Charlie winces and scratches the stubble on his chin. "About that, I can't really send it back." At her almost murderous look, he frowned. "I mean, I suppose I can give it to a zoo or something—"

"What the hell do you mean you can't send it back?"

"Well do you ever hear of an _anti_ -summoning spell? No."

"I've never heard of a damn _summoning_ spell." Santana retorts.

"Look Santana, I can't send it back. I didn't actually put that in the spell," Charlie admits. In _hindsight,_ it wasn't his smartest move. "But look at it," Charlie points over to where the dragon is currently curled up into Antonio's side. It was awake and it seemed to be listening to every word Antonio was babbling excitedly. "You shouldn't separate a boy and his dragon."

"You had a dragon, what happened to it?"

"It got eaten by a griffin that was—is trying to murder me," Charlie waves his hand. "It protected me, and that's all that matters."

Santana's jaw dropped and then she closed it, she didn't even know how to _retort_ to that. It was a good thing that she hadn't quit her job. She wasn't sure that the fancy apartment and the salary she was getting was worth her sanity. She turns to Antonio who was kicking his feet and slowly reading the book Charlie had given him. The money may not be worth it, but giving her son the best possible chance at a good life certainly was. She swallows, Charlie had said that he was going to childproof the store. It was more than her old boss had ever done. More than Antonio's own father had ever done. "Okay."

"Okay?" Charlie presses.

"I'll be your assistant, but I'm going to need to actually have a job description—what did your last assistant do for you?"

Charlie made a face at this, "Alright, alright—I'll go ask her to give me a complete breakdown of what she did and maybe some helpful tips for you. You can watch the store right? I've been closed since forever and I really need to start working again. I'm behind on like all my orders."

"Nothing's going to pop out of a drawer and eat me, right?" Santana checks. Better to be safe than sorry..

"No." Charlie pauses and opens the drawers to check to make sure. "Yeah, no. I'll probably be back in a few hours. If anyone does come in just tell them that they're orders will be ready when things get a bit organized. And whatever you do, don't go past the black curtain—just don't."

Santana nods, she can do that she knows how to operate a cash register. "Okay, if I have any questions—"

"Call me. You probably won't need to call me though, most people who come in here are _assistants_ and they're unionized so talk to them, see what they'd suggest for someone just starting out. I'll ask my last assistant."

Santana nods, "Anything else?" She frowns when Charlie looks around the store, he was probably the most disorganized person ever.

"Oh right, a book on basic safety," Charlie pulls a book from one of the shelves and tosses it onto the counter. "Start reading that. It's important."

Santana eyes the book that has to be a couple thousand pages thick. The door chimes and Santana looks up to realize that she and Tony are completely alone in this—whatever the hell this place is. What the fuck had she gotten herself into?


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Every now and again I get a few people pestering me about when I'm going to finish a story, everything that I post now is finished you will never ever have to worry about it going incomplete unless you know I die or something, but apart from those circumstances I'll have you know that I polled my patrons on stories that I was willing to take a look at. True Love is being worked on, I changed a few things up and I even wrote a new chapter. But the story that people wanted me to finish first was Family Portrait, some of you may not know this but I do have an account on ao3, under the same pen name. So I believe there is one story that isn't on fanfiction and that's Family Portrait, it was but I took it down and moved it over there. Anyway that's the story that won, followed I believe by Beautiful pain, I'll take a look at the poll later, and finally the Original Family. So that's what I'm going to start working on Family portrait with all the other stories that are being worked on. Death to my hometown, You don't know love, oh and for those of you who want me to write more smut, another smut piece is incoming entitled XXX (because I couldn't think of a title, though there maybe a song called XXX, I dunno that may change. My backers chose the kinks and there are multiple and I do mean multiple smut chapters. That should pop up in a few weeks, maybe late October.)**

 **Wow I just rambled on for a bit, reviews are lovely. They make me happy, and feel appreciated, which means I go back to the grindstone. So if you enjoyed it take a moment to write a review.**

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"The only way to save someone from manticore venom, is to kill the manticore from which the venom came. The venom which is magical in nature is tied to the presence of the—" Santana let out a low groan and resisted the urge to hurl the book across the room. This was _impossible,_ she didn't even know what a manticore was. If she hadn't seen her new boss summon a dragon in front of her she'd think that this whole thing was some sort of prank. A very sick prank. She wondered how Charlie expected her to memorize this entire book by the time he got back. She had _barely_ made it through the different types of fire and how to put them out.

Even if she didn't completely understand everything the book said, she knew what fire was. Fire was something she could visualize, sure she didn't know what the difference between hellfire and vaelfire but the concept was simple. She couldn't even begin to visualize what was going on in the Poison and Prevention section. This wasn't anything like the child safety books that she had when Antonio was crawling around. She knew what bleach was. She had no idea what nightshade even looked like, let alone what a manticore was. She exhales slowly and marks the page carefully, so she could ask Charlie later and looks at the next page. "The _hell_ is a _haunt_?"

Her frustrated tone is enough to draw Antonio's attention away from his pet dragon who immediately wandered off. "What's wrong mommy?" Antonio asked pushing himself to his feet and heading over to the counter.

"I don't think I can do this job." She admits. She's never been one to bullshit, especially not with her son. It's her favorite thing about being a mom, she doesn't have to do it the way her parent's did. Even though Antonio is six, he's a smart kid and it's important for him to see that she's not perfect either. "My boss is crazy."

Antonio nods seriously. "Yeah, he was really weird. His _socks_ didn't match."

Santana rolls her eyes. Trust her kid to focus on _that_ and ignore the whole dragon summoning thing. "I think maybe we should slip out before he realizes that I have no magical ability at all."

"You always know when I sneak candy or I am playing with my toys instead of going to sleep." Antonio reminds her. Other kids at school didn't seem to get it. There was _nothing_ he could do without his mom already knowing about it. "That's probably magic, right?"

Santana frowns. She's always joked about her Mexican Third Eye, but it was never really something she could explain. "No, I'm sure—" The door jingles and a blonde woman who seems glued to her tablet glides into the shop.

"Charlie I don't care what your excuse is, I need those basilisk eggs and you promised they'd be here two weeks ago—" The woman looks up and startles. "You didn't try some transfiguration spell and screw it up again did you? Fuck, Charlie. Mom's going to kill you. You did at least manage to make yourself hot though, so that's better than last time—"

"No." Santana interrupts, clearing her throat. "I'm—not Charlie. I'm Charlie's new assistant."

The woman cocks her head to the side. "Assistant, eh? Are you from the academy? I thought they weren't going to let Charlie have an assistant after his last one left. Three strikes rule. I'm Brittany by the way."

Santana looked at the woman blankly. She had absolutely no idea what any of that really meant. "No. I'm—" She scratched her nose feeling absolutely ridiculous at explaining this to another adult, "I'm new—I got hired yesterday." She already felt incredibly out of her depth and she didn't need another person knowing that she was basically a fraud.

The woman smiled warmly and without warning closed the gap between them and wrapped Santana in a warm hug. "Damn. I guess I should have waited for you then, but I guess if Mike was still Charlie's assistant then he wouldn't have needed you. Can you run and get the Basilisk eggs for me? They should be labelled under Brittany, but you may find it under 'Charlie's marvelous and favorite sister'. Either one."

Santana glances at the black curtain, Charlie had told her bluntly to stay out from the back. "Um, about that—Charlie wanted me to tell anyone that came in that the orders would get filled the _moment_ that things settled down and got organized."

"Yes but I needed them two weeks ago, do you know how difficult it is to run a sanctuary when my brother can't come through on his orders? Just go get them, I promise I won't tell anyone. I don't want to get you in trouble but I need to get that exhibit up."

"Look, Brittany—" Santana began trying to figure out an excuse when her son came to her rescue.

"Wanna see my dragon?"

Brittany blinked and turned to look for the voice finally looking down and noticing Antonio. She frowns a bit before looking at Santana, who looked a bit lost. She plasters a smile on her face and bends down so she can be at eye-level with the kid. "My brother summoned a dragon for you?"

"Yeah! It's black and it's got red eyes and it can totally breath fire!" Antonio exclaimed running to go get the dragon that was currently watching Brittany from afar. It hisses at Antonio the moment he approaches causing him to take a step back confusion on his face.

"Tony—get away from that thing. Safe he said, he said it was perfectly safe," Santana muttered moving to go and grab her son before he became dragon chow.

Brittany raised her hand to stop Santana, "No that's my fault, he can probably smell Lord Tubbington all over me and it's getting him a bit territorial. "Tony you're going to need to extend your hand out and let him come to you. He needs to know he's not going to be Lord Tubbington's dinner."

Antonio nodded and slowly extended his hand waiting for his new pet to accept him, it took a moment the dragon staring at him cautiously before finally taking a few steps forward and allowing Antonio to pet him. "Wow you must know a _lot_ about dragons!"

"Well, I do own a zoo. We've got a few of the bigger dragons there if you want to see them. Dragons from all over really, it's one of the more popular exhibits. You should make Charlie take you sometime, but speaking of exhibits—" Brittany said turning back to Santana. "I _really_ need those eggs."

Santana winced, "I really shouldn't leave Antonio alone in the shop." She tries.

"Who said he'd be alone. Plus, he's got his dragon that will keep him from too much trouble. And worst case scenario I'll be here to make sure he doesn't eat a dung beetle and turn into a frog."

"Can that happen?" Antonio shrieks excitedly.

Brittany grinned at him and Santana hesitated, she didn't quite trust Charlie's organizational skills but it was just a quick trip and he'd never have to know. Besides she was a bit curious as to what he was hiding behind there. She really hoped it wasn't bodies. She swallows and pulls back the curtain and steps inside.

~O~

Rachel laughed from where she was currently straddling Quinn's hips enjoying the feeling of running her fingers through Quinn's hair. "You know, as your assistant I really should be telling you that you really need to get back to work. The honeymoon ended weeks ago." She leans in pressing her lips against Quinn's trying not to laugh when she felt Quinn's fingers slide down to find her core again. She groans against her lips. " _Quinn_."

Quinn smirks her eyes dancing with amusement as she tilts her head so she can kiss Rachel's jaw, "This. Is. Way. More. Fun." She announces punctuating every word with a kiss as she works her way down to Rachel's neck. "I took the rest of the day off so I could—" There's a loud crack followed by what looks like lightning before the door to her penthouse apartment explodes sending pieces of wood flying everywhere. Immediately Quinn reacts wrapping her arm around Rachel and using her body as a shield even as she raises her hand to create a barrier.

"You _really_ need to work on your wards," Charlie said walking past the doorway, scratching his cheek. He sniffs and looks at the busted up doorway and nudges some of the broken wood with his foot, who used basic wards to protect their homes these days? "If you want I can redo them for you completely custom of course, but it'll cost you." He looks up pleased with himself that he could make money even in these circumstances when he catches sight of his sister and former assistant. Immediately he crinkles his nose before covering his eyes with a hand. "What the hell? Why are you two naked?"

Rachel felt the temperature in the room plummet immediately, and she opened her eyes to look at Quinn who had a murderous look on her face. "Quinn," she began reaching for a shirt that was still in arm's length.

"You little pissant!" Quinn begins turning to face her brother who blinks and looks at her no longer seemingly embarrassed, he didn't even get flushed. He had that _idiotic_ look on his face. "Do you have _any_ idea how much that door cost? Not to mention the fact that you just destroyed all my wards? As for why we're naked? Why would I be naked with my _damn_ wife? She's my _wife_ you fucking moron!"

Charlie looked unimpressed even as the temperature continued to drop till he could see his breath in front of him. "Well, I never approved of the damn union anyway. If mom hadn't forced me to attend I never would have come to the wedding. What is _with_ this family and stealing my damn assistants." He sidesteps the burst of huge chunks of ice that Quinn sent at him, which had been aimed at his head and he could feel his own elemental magic being called forward. There's a spark of electricity dancing at his fingertips.

" _Enough_." Rachel says immediately stepping in front of Quinn before a magical brawl could start. Quinn doesn't look particularly amused by this and she immediately steps towards her former Magician. "Charlie, I know you're still upset because you think Quinn poached me but we fell in love and we got married, and I decided to become her assistant instead. I gave you plenty of notice and I left a list of things that you needed to get done."

Charlie immediately covered his eyes again, he had a whole laundry list of complaints. "I have no idea what you're talking about and you _knew_ that resigning as my assistant would mean that I couldn't get another unionized Assistant. Three strike policy! Whoever heard of a magician without an assistant!"

"Oh please you just had to fill out some paperwork, and appeal their decision," Quinn muttered moving towards her clothes as she began to put them on. "If you weren't so weird then you'd probably have another assistant by now."

"I do have an assistant," Charlie retorts tempted to shock his twin sister despite Rachel being in his way. "In fact that is the reason I'm here. Since Rachel was incredibly self-sufficient and organized I have no idea what she _did_ , now my assistant needs things to do and I don't know where to start."

"I was your assistant for two _years_ and you're telling me that you have no idea what I did every day?" Rachel stomps her foot angrily. "I made you sit through a three-hour presentation before I left! How do you not know what I did for you?"

Charlie scratches behind his ear. "I—uh, wasn't listening." He had sat through the PowerPoint, sure, but he had been thinking about the theory behind dimensional travel. He had always wanted to build a portal so that he could save on airfare. But that required far more brainpower, let alone magic and effort than he was willing to put in. Maybe he should start, if he could get it working he would have made his mark on magic.

"Of course you weren't." Rachel threw up her hands. She wasn't sure why she even bothered. Then something he had said earlier struck her. "Wait, if you have an assistant, why doesn't she know? I mean, yeah she's not unionized, but did you get her from the academy?" She narrows her eyes at the thought of Charlie snatching up a young assistant before the girl got a chance to really understand what she was getting herself into. At least Rachel had put forward the effort to be unionized, but then she always had to be the best of the best. "Or did you go with someone who was self-taught?"

Charlie frowned and glanced at Quinn who was muttering under her breath. If she was this mad now and when he had walked in on them, she was going to have a coronary once she found out. This was a bad idea, he should have asked Mike. "I should go—"

Quinn frowned and turned to her younger brother, there was guilt on his face and she knew he had done something _stupid_ and probably against the rules. Which meant that she was going to need to clean up after him like usual. "What did you _do_?"

"Nothing."

" _Charles_. What did you do?"

"Oh now you call me Charles, I suppose it's better than Chuck—"

Quinn marched over to him and grabbed him by the collar pulling him down so he was at eye level with her, "I swear to god if you don't tell me what you did I'm going to freeze your dick off." It's not like Charlie had ever used the damn thing before.

"I placed an advertisement in the paper. Someone answered, I hired her on the spot," Charlie replies. "Really Quinn—"

"Which paper?" Rachel questioned immediately, two years of working with him meant that she knew that she needed to clarify pretty much everything.

Charlie grimaced, "Okay, so maybe I put it in the mundane everyday paper _but_ before you get mad at me, she _saw_ the advertisement, and she saw my help wanted sign. She has some pretty powerful latent abilities if she saw through my illusions."

They both stared at him in dumbfounded silence. "Please tell me that you aren't that stupid." Quinn groans, pinching her nose as she tried to push back the headache at the thought of all the paperwork she was sure was already on her desk.

"Stupid? I thought it was brilliant. She wasn't unionized but she's also not a mundane, because I made _sure_ that only someone with powerful abilities could pass the test. She got raised in a mundane family though. I'll have to look at her family tree to see if—"

" _You_ made _sure_?" Quinn scoffs. "You mean like that time that you made sure to lock up father's bestiary? Remember how that went? Oh right, you nearly got yourself killed by a fucking Griffin." Quinn smacks Charlie's chest hard where the scar was still very much there.

"Not just any griffin. Lord Tubbington is a _menace_." Charlie slaps away her hand with a frown. Quinn was never going to let him live that down but it hadn't been his _fault._ Honestly he had no idea why the damn thing hated him so much. Of course it was an ornery griffin who hated everyone _but_ Brittany. Lord Tubbington just seemed to hate him more than everyone else.

"Could you two _focus_?" Rachel interrupts. Honestly, sometimes they bickered worse than children. "Where is she now?" Rachel asks, the poor woman probably had no idea what she was walking into and would need a crash course and quite a bit of help to become proficient. Her two years spent working with Charlie had opened her eyes to his brilliance, but that brilliance had come at a cost. He was a terrible boss, his social skills were practically non-existent at times and there were many days when he would simply get lost in some magical formula or another. Charlie was a powerful magician, probably more skilled than Quinn though her wife's magical ability was absolutely terrifying. His major problem was that he was disorganized, and he lacked focus, which was why he _needed_ a strong assistant. Someone that could keep him focused. It was part of the reason she hadn't stayed as his assistant. She had managed to run his life, but she had never been able to keep him focused on something for more than two minutes.

"Oh, she's back at the shop with her son. It's alright I summoned a dragon for the boy to play with and I gave her a book on safety to read. Plus, you know she's running the shop. It's been closed ever since you decided to abandon me. Don't worry I gave her specific instructions to tell everyone to go away until we got organized again. You left the store a mess Rachel, I couldn't find anything. Plus, I have no idea what you did with my Brownies. I had to get a new family—which reminds me I need to pick up some honey for those Brownies, or maybe I should leave some porridge out. Also I should probably investigate why the bees are dying probably mundane made but I should check to make sure it's not—" Charlie mused rubbing the stubble on his chin.

"Everything _was_ organized when I left it—wait where did you say you left her?" Rachel paled considerably. They needed to get back to Charlie's store and fast.

Charlie blinks and focuses on Rachel for a moment. "I'm pretty sure that I said I left her at the store. Where else would she be Rachel? She's my _assistant_. Running the shop because I don't want to is one of _her_ responsibilities."

"Let me get this straight, you left a _mundane_ alone in your shop without any sort of magical supervision?" Quinn pressed suddenly seeing Rachel's panic, her brother was a menace to society at times, and he got excused, according to their mother it was because Charlie was special. She had bit her tongue on that one. It was far too easy.

"That would be irresponsible. I left a dragon there in case things got really hairy, see I think ahead." Charlie said smugly, and they thought he was an idiot.

"Quinn," Rachel pressed, they could yell at Charlie for being irresponsible late right now whoever his new assistant was probably in danger. While Charlie didn't think his shop was dangerous, and it wasn't to someone who was trained like she was, for someone who had no idea what they were doing Charlie's shop was a death trap. Charlie didn't even know what he was doing _most_ of the time and she had no idea how he had survived this long without her.


	4. Chapter 4

Santana took a deep breath before stepping through the curtain with an air of confidence she didn't feel. Maybe if she made it seem like she was comfortable she wouldn't feel so out of place. She's not sure what she had been expecting, but it almost seems normal. Counters line the outside walls and there seem to be several rows of shelving that house boxes of various shapes and sizes all with different levels of dust that had accumulated on them. She sees a couple of empty cages and feels a rush of relief that she at least doesn't have to worry about facing some unknown beast.

She only makes it a few steps, however, when suddenly a figure materializes in front of her.

"Santanita, you are the biggest disappointment—"

"Abuela?" Santana takes a step back, gulping heavily. She hasn't seen her abuela in _years_ , not since before her parents kicked her out. She could remember going to her for help, talking to her pleading with her to no avail. Her family had turned their backs on her the moment that she had made a mistake.

She's frozen feeling that weight of disappointment from the person who had taken care of her while her parents worked. Her abuela had been unforgiving, ripping into her about a future that she would never have. She swallows, she had been so afraid to face her once she had found out about her pregnancy, to afraid to disappoint her and that same panicked fear claws at her heart. She loved her abuela, but she had always made her feel so small and pathetic. She takes a shaky breath and closes her eyes. Almost immediately she feels a pressure behind her eyes, it's like a sharp shooting pain and she wonders if she's dying. She stumbles back and opens her eyes, and she almost wishes she hadn't.

Upon reopening her eyes, she sees that her abuela hasn't disappeared but has taken more of an opaque hue, almost as if she's a ghost. That doesn't scare her nearly as much as the short, hairy humanoid creature with a large triangular nose and freakishly long arms that dragged on the ground beside it. It's smiling, at least she thinks it's smiling with its broken yellow gap-tooth teeth. Her mouth drops for a moment and no words come out even as the _thing_ realizes that something is wrong, the smile slowly falling of its face. It's only when it takes a step towards her does she find her voice and scream in horror.

"Everything okay?" Santana barely hears Brittany call from the other room. "I know Charlie's backroom must be horrific. You should have seen his room growing up."

Santana tries to garble out some assurance but Antonio must see through it completely because he's fumbling through the curtain just a second later. "What's wrong Mommy?" He asks desperately, wanting to protect her.

It's enough to cause that _thing_ to turn and focus on him. Her abuela flickers out of sight and instead it morphs into a giant spider, which immediately hisses and starts toward him. Almost immediately Antonio screams in terror and tries to scramble backwards landing on his bum, a wet spot began to slowly appear on his jeans as he wets himself in terror.

It's enough to snap Santana out of her daze, and she immediately moves to get her son and run when the dragon that Charlie had conjured launches himself at that the monster. Blowing it's fire, it's enough to cause the thing to stop and in that moment she grabs her son, picking him up and running. She only gets as far as the curtain when she trips, she's not sure on what and pitches forward.

It's a chain reaction, she braces herself hoping that she doesn't hurt Antonio when she feels an arm around her waist, catching her. There's a frown on Charlie's face but he's not even looking at her as he raises his hand and lightning arches from his fingertips hitting the dragon and the monster. There's a dull thud and Santana looks up at him, he looks eerily calm and mentally present as he immediately shifts his body so he can support both her and Antonio as he pulls them out of his little nook.

"What the _hell_ Brittany? Why didn't you go and help?" Quinn snapped at her looking at her older sister judgmentally. They had entered the shop just as Antonio had screamed; it was the first time that she had ever seen her brother move that fast shoving Brittany aside to get to them.

"She's an assistant! You know how they get when you encroach on their space," Brittany said defensively a guilty look on her face. "I didn't think Charlie had anything dangerous back there! And why is this _my_ fault?" Charlie was the one that had left them unattended.

The beat had given Santana a chance to clear her head and her terror quickly turned to fury. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

Charlie nodded and turned to Brittany, "I agree—"

"Not _her_ you idiot. _You_. How the hell could you just leave us here when you've got creepy ass humanoid trolls waiting around to scare us to death."

"It was just a boggart." Charlie dismisses. "And you would have been _fine_ if you had just listened to me. I _told_ you that I didn't have time to childproof the store."

"Antonio wouldn't have even been in here—"

"I didn't want to childproof it for _him_." Charlie retorts.

"Wait, can we go back a minute?" Brittany interjects.

"No." Charlie and Santana bark in unison.

But Brittany's not willing to be ignored. "You said you _saw_ it? Like not just the projection, you actually saw the boggart?"

Charlie stops at those words and he studies Santana carefully, it had taken him _years_ to be able to master the art of seeing past the boggart's power of illusion and he had been raised in a magical household. Santana had been here about three hours and she had seen through the magic in seconds. "I told you that she had latent magical ability." Charlie mutters to Quinn.

"Having latent magical ability and being able to do something with it are two totally different things. You put her in danger, and she doesn't belong here. If you needed any more proof, well here it is." Quinn tilts her head to Santana. "I apologize for my moronic brother."

Santana shook her head; she didn't care about some stupid troll-thing. "Antonio could have been hurt, you put my son in danger."

"I told you the dragon would protect him, I gave your son a guardian even if you don't approve," Charlie retorts.

"He wouldn't need protecting if—"

Charlie shakes his head, losing interest in this argument. Everyone was fine and aside from Antonio who was still clinging to his mother. He could smell the urine from here and he raised a brow. He crouched down a little to meet Tony's eye level. "What did _you_ see?"

"It was a big spider." Antonio mutters shudders at the memory. He _hates_ spiders and now he feels like some dumb baby. He expects that Charlie will make fun of him for being scared of spiders, but he's surprised when the taller man just frowns sympathetically.

"I hate spiders too." Charlie grimaces. "Creepy devils with too many arms. They're _ugly_ and have this weird thing with their mouths." He frowns sympathetically and snaps his fingers, instantly cleaning and drying Antonio's underclothes and pants. "There we go. Can't have you walking around when you spilled water all over yourself. That must be uncomfortable."

Antonio's embarrassment fades. Even though he is weird, Charlie's not as bad as some of the other adults he's met. "Um—can you get me my dragon please?" He whispers to Charlie looking back at the room.

"Of course," Charlie says heading to the back and looking at the mess that had been made. He glances around before scooping up the dragon and stopping to put the boggart in a cage, before locking it. He returns, "Sorry I knocked it out, it's very hard to do precision attacks when you're on the run."

"This is ridiculous. I quit. No job is worth this. Not even if you're paying me two grand a week. The gangs are probably safer. At least I know what I'm getting into."

"Two grand?" Rachel snaps up. She'd been too consumed with the state of the shop. She's not sure how Charlie managed to get this in such a mess in two short months. But two grand? She made four times that and while she had been a fabulous assistant she had been grossly under compensated. "Charles Fabray! You explain yourself this instant!"

Charlie blinks wondering why people resorted to Charles when they were upset with him. "She's not from the union—" Not to mention she wasn't trained which meant he'd have to do it all himself. It wasn't as if he was paying her _badly_.

"She's standing right here and she's _done_." Santana snaps as she puts Antonio down but ushers him towards her purse. She roots in it for a moment before grabbing the signing bonus and holding it out for Charlie. "Take it."

Charlie frowned staring at the extended piece of paper before looking away and walking towards one of the tables that had gotten upended and picks it up and sets it back down upright. "I don't think the brownies are going to be pleased. I should probably put out some honey before I forget."

Rachel groans but looks expectantly at her new wife and Quinn pretends not to catch the clear intent. After a minute, she caves. She really should be used to cleaning up after Charlie by now. Craning her neck she puts on her best politician's smile. "Look, Santana. Keep the money, consider it a severance package."

Santana frowns but stuffs the check into her pocket. "Fine. Whatever. What about the dragon—"

"Mom!" Antonio shouts. "You can't give him away, he's _mine_."

"I'm not keeping a _dragon_." Santana snaps. "Our apartment doesn't allow pets."

"Perception ward." Charlie mutters from the far corner where he seems to be engrossed in cleaning up a couple of boxes that had spilled. After scratching his brow for a minute, he ends up conjuring a blanket and draping it over the mess before turning back to the others who are all glaring at him with various levels of skepticism and disbelief. "What?"

"Would you care to _elaborate_ on what you mean? Or are you just going to throw out words to make yourself seem smarter?" Quinn sneers at her brother. She's never been good at protective wards and she's a little annoyed that she has to even wait for him to explain—not that she'd ever admit that aloud.

Charlie makes a face, why was everyone else so slow? Well he understood that Quinn was slow but Brittany should have followed that thread of thought immediately. "Perception wards, it's like the one that I had on the shop front and in my classified ad." Charlie comments. "They won't _notice_ a dragon and if they do it'll look like a lizard. Problem solved."

"No, problem not solved my apartment doesn't allow us to own a pet." Santana reminds him.

 _"_ I thought you said we're moving!" Antonio reminds her clinging onto his new pet.

Santana frowns, she shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. That was classic bad parenting 101. "I'm sorry mijo—we aren't going to be moving after all." She winces when tears well up in his eyes. She glances around for a tissue or something, but notices the looks she's getting and quickly straightens up and narrows her eyes. She was poor, even though she busted her ass all the time, she had nothing to be ashamed about. She's about to say something when Charlie clears his throat.

"You can still live in the apartment upstairs; you'll have to pay rent though but we can work something out." Charlie speaks up absentmindedly as he bends down to pick up some books. "If you're looking for a job, there's a help wanted sign in the bakery down the street."

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood to jump from one job where magical creatures try to kill me, to making magical pot brownies or whatever."

"Why would you bake Brownies?" Charlie's brow furrowed.

"She means the dessert, you _moron_." Quinn snaps. Turning to Santana she smiles. "It's a normal bakery, we eat normal food. Charlie's the only magician in this area. All the other stores around here are just that. Stores."

"And boring." Charlie muttered. When his sisters look at him again he forces a smile to his face. "But delicious."

Santana shifts uncomfortably when everyone, including a dragon, watches her for any hint as to what she is going to do. "I don't know, I'm not sure I'll get the job and then what? I can't live above all of this. What if something attacks me again? Or Antonio gets hurt?"

"Charlie doesn't have any creatures upstairs, right Charlie?"

"Uh—" Charlie blinks.

" _Charles_."

"What? You moved out and did something to my Brownies. I had to get some new ones!" Charlie insists.

"What's a Brownie?" Antonio asks.

"A small fairy like creature, that cleans up for you. They _like_ doing it," Brittany responds. "They don't like being seen, which is why they come out at night. They're relatively benign. I mean the young ones like to move stuff around but still, harmless. We all have them."

"What else?" Rachel demands looking at Charlie suspiciously. When he doesn't answer, she turns to Santana. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that he keeps his _work_ in the shop, and I'll make sure he strengthens all the wards. Nothing will happen to your son."

"You can't promise that _nothing_ will happen to him—"

"Charlie." Rachel, Quinn and Brittany scold in unison.

He holds up his palms defensively, "Fine, I won't bring any more creatures to my room or the store."

"And anything toxic," Rachel presses.

"Right, that too." Charlie grumbles, he was making a lot of concessions for Santana considering that she was the one who had quit.

"I'll supervise the cleanup," Rachel informs her, "I know where he hides all of his things. By the way I'm Rachel, his last assistant."

Santana crinkled her nose a bit, "He said you were poached."

"She was!"

"He's upset that I married his sister," Rachel said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "He's been a big baby about the whole thing."

Charlie grumbles but _refuses_ to pout. Quinn took everything and he had just gotten used to Rachel being in his space all the time and moving his things and then Quinn swooped in and stole her too. "I'm not being a baby; I just don't like it." Brittany had stolen Mike right when his apprenticeship had ended. Artie had been an abysmal failure. Rachel got on his nerves but she was incredibly good at her job. Quinn had done it on purpose and he was never going to forgive her. She had a boring job where she didn't have to do that much magic to begin with, she didn't _need_ an assistant.

"Tough," Quinn retorts before flicking her eyes at Santana. They were going to have to watch her carefully. Charlie had been irresponsible by telling her, but if she kept quiet about their existence she wouldn't have to get someone to wipe her mind. Still, she would need to keep tabs on the situation. A woman with no training who could see through boggart magic—she'd need to do some investigating.

"I'm going upstairs," he mutters mostly to himself as his sisters ignore him. He shoots one glance at Santana for a moment studying her. If it had been anybody else, he would start looking for another assistant immediately, but he had a feeling that Santana would be back.


	5. Chapter 5

Santana fights a grin as she leads Antonio up the stairs to their new apartment a week and a half later. He's still chattering amiably about his new class and she can't help but feel a burst of pride that she's managed to get her son to a school where he can really succeed. He's got his new ipad tucked firmly under his arm and has been talking for the last ten minutes about the class pet that is _nowhere_ as cool as his dragon.

"It can't even breathe fire." Antonio reminds her.

"It's a gerbil. I hope it can't breathe fire." Santana snorts.

"The book says that I can train Spot to shoot fireballs." Antonio cocks his head to the side. "How long do you think it would take me?"

Santana tries not to roll her eyes at the mention of that damn book. She's had to check Tony's backpack every single day to make sure he's not trying to take the dragon or the book to school with him. Then she's had to _re_ check it to make sure he didn't smuggle it in once her back was turned. He could be a manipulative sneaky little shit when he wanted to be, and she had absolutely no idea where he learned that from. "Hopefuly never," she mutters under her breath glad that Antonio isn't paying that much attention to her. The last thing she needed was her son to become some sort of pyromaniac.

Santana sighs, wishing that the apartment had an elevator as they make there way up the stairs to the second floor as she fumbles with her keys. The job at the bakery was killing her, yeah the pay was better than the diner, but the work was incredibly difficult. There was a lot of heavy lifting and working in boiling hot kitchens, it didn't matter that she got a bag of cookies to take home at the end of the day. She had never worked this hard in her entire life.

Her hours were absolutely terrible, she had to be up every day two am, so she could unload the trucks and start baking the goods for the day, not to mention any orders that they had received. Finding a babysitter for the mornings had been impossible, but she was always there when he woke up, and Charlie lived right across the hall, plus he had the damn dragon. The only good thing about her job was that she had afternoons to spend with him. She shakes her head watching Antonio race up the stairs wondering how he had so much energy when she notice dark red droplets on the stairs. " _Tony_ ," she snapped at him in a warning tone. It's the little shot of adrenaline that she needs to quickly hop up a few more steps so she can step in front of him.

Antonio turns and frowns at his mother, " _Come on mom_ , I have to feed her! Or—or—" he trails off when he notices the bloody handprint on the wall, and he points to it. "Mom?"

Santana looks up and frowns, she had known that this was a bad idea. But the school had been so good and Rachel had sworn that Charlie's apartment was clean of any critters. She hadn't really _seen_ Charlie lately, the shop was closed, and as far as she knew there hadn't been any strange noises coming from his apartment. She had seen him, but he mostly went about his business quietly, whatever that was. He did take the time to talk to Antonio for a few minutes whenever they crossed paths but this—she was going to need to do something about this, because she shuddered to think what monster made that damn handprint. " _Charlie_!" She storms up the stairs, carefully. She has no idea what's up there and she needed to make sure that Antonio was safe. She freezes when she gets to the top of the stairs and sees Charlie attempting to open his door, his left hand hanging limply beside him, blood dripping from the limb.

"Note to self: leave out an extra two containers of honey this week or the Brownies might decide to vacate the premises." Charlie mutters to himself, glancing down at the blood that's starting to pool at his feet. He hadn't noticed Santana or Antonio staring at him, he hadn't even heard Santana yelling at him. All he knows is that he hates blood, it always leaves that sort of coppery smell even several weeks later.

Santana moves quickly to Charlie's side, he was a powerful magician and she needed to know what had done that to him. If it was in the building. "What the hell happened to you?"

Charlie finally notices Santana when she touches his back and his head snaps to her. There's a moment when he doesn't quite recognize her, probably the work of the blood loss, but he finally smiles. "Nothing. It's a flesh wound."

He had lost a lot of blood and she immediately goes for his pockets so she can find his keys, she was going to need to call someone. A hospital, she needed to get in touch with a hospital but first she needed to know if she "Yes. Yes it is a flesh wound. A deep one." Santana winces when she slowly pushes his wet blood stained clothes up. It looks like a claw mark. "Charlie. _Focus_. Are Antonio and I safe? Where did you get this?"

"Hmm? Yes! Yes you're perfectly fine, I got this at the zoo. Lord Tubbington really hates me. Brittany didn't leave me alone about the basilisk eggs, so I did a delivery and her stupid griffin wanted to gouge my eyes out. I think I got off light, I'm not quite sure the pirate look is in this year—excuse me I just need to sleep for a bit and I'll be good as new."

The words don't quite make sense to her, how could they. She's not quite sure what Lord Tubbington is. Or how big it is. She had thought dragons were these massive dinosaur-shaped things but her son had one that was no bigger than a cat. But still, the idea of Charlie sleeping it off with that much blood loss still seemed like a terrible idea. "Are you sure? Because it looks like you've lost your weight in blood."

"I'm fine—" Charlie tries to assure even as he stumbles over his own foot.

"Antonio get my phone and call 911—"

Antonio moved into action immediately reaching to grab his mother's phone in her purse. "Okay—is Mr. Charlie going to be okay mom?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't call a hospital, call Rachel. Tell her Lord Tubbington is still trying to kill me and then tell her to call my mother," Charlie muses. It's a burst of focused energy, but it's a bit too much and he slumps forward.

Santana moves to catch him, but he's taller than her and surprisingly built under those baggy clothes he wears. She grimaces and helps him lay out on the ground. She moves immediately taking her phone from Antonio who looks concerned. "Go get me some pillows Antonio, he' a magician he's probably got some magical potion that only Rachel knows about. He'll be fine." Antonio nods and quickly takes his mom's keys before running to open the door and she immediately returns her focus on Charlie's arm. She frowns for a moment as she dials Rachel's number.

Rachel picks up on the first ring. "Santana, are you okay? Did Charlie do something?"

"No." Santana assures right away, then frowns. "Well, yes, but not to me. He's bleeding—"

"What did he do?"

"He said something about a Lord something or rather and that I should call you to call his mom, look I think he's out for the count and I figure you had some sort of—I don't know potion or something to make him feel better. He said no hospitals."

" _His mom is in Paris_."

"Well can't she—fuck if I know—fly?"

 _"_ _Don't be ridiculous,"_ Rachel sighs, _"I'm just going to have to get one of the other healers to make a house call."_ It would be expensive, at least the good ones were and Charlie was _clearly_ a bit of a cheapass. Which was probably why he was trying to get in touch with his mother. She healed him for free, but it generally meant a huge lecture about his _life_ choices.

"How long would that take?"

" _Ten to twenty minutes._ "

"Look, when I said he was bleeding, I didn't mean it was some little cut that would be fixed with a bandaid. I don't know if he's _got_ twenty minutes."

Rachel grimaced for a moment, her mind racing, if it really was that bad—this was why Charlie needed an assistant. " _Okay, you're going to need to slow the blood—_ "

"I don't _know_ magic." Santana reminds her looking up as Antonio comes back, attempting to balance the pillows.

" _Yes_ , _I know. I was going to suggest wrapping something around his biceps, tightly to slow the bleeding, it's a makeshift tourniquet. I'm over an hour away, there are simple spells that I could use, but I need to be there to use them."_

Santana blinks, that actually sounds like something that is relatively useful, but she keeps quiet and instead reaches for Charlie's shirt and unbuttons it, rolling her eyes at the fact that he hadn't managed to button his shirt properly. She's about to do what Rachel asks when she notices the dragon sniffing Charlie's hand. It was a fire breathing dragon, "Rachel what about using the dragonfire to you know—I don't know seal the wound like they do in the movies?"

" _Cauterizing the wound would be a good idea, and I'd suggest that but dragonfire is not exactly something that you want to use to do that, and as far as I can tell that's a baby dragon it doesn't have the heat to do that and even if it did it would complicate the healing process."_

Santana winced, she felt ridiculous for even suggesting it, but she was glad she did. Everything seemed so complicated. She lifts Charlie's arm and quickly tied the tourniquet above the wound. It doesn't seem to do much but she's done it. "Okay, done. Do I have to worry about poison or him sprouting wings or something?"

" _Griffins aren't poisonous and they certainly don't have the magic to create therianthropes, not really, I mean you might have to worry about infection. I doubt Brittany has cleaned it's claws in a while. I mean given how morbidly obese Lord Tubbington is,I'm surprised it can even get in the air, let alone catch Charlie unaware."_

There's a clanging knock that comes from the stairwell and it stops Santana from questioning any further. "Tony, go see what that is and let them in."

Rachel apparently overheard the clang and sighed in relief. _"Oh good, the healers are there."_

Santana rubs her eye tiredly. She's _exhausted_ and it doesn't help that every minute of the day she seems to be realizing that she's even more confused than before. It didn't help that she was _seeing_ things at work, things that no one else saw. Imps, or little green men that stole some of the food and ingredients, never enough to be noticed but still, it was creepy as hell. She was seeing more of that everywhere she went and she knew that she was slowly losing her mind.

"Mom! It's the healer," Antonio called out as he ran up the stairs pulling a man along with him. "You have to save Mr. Charlie," he informs the man bluntly not caring if he's being rude. He was even more scared than when he had gotten attacked by the giant spider.

"Are you his assistant?" The man questioned raising a brow at the site in front of him.

"No, but I have his former assistant on the phone with me right now, I'm sure she can give you the details better than I can," Santana said as she extended the phone for him. He took it and immediately brushed her aside like she was beneath him. "What happened?" He asked into the phone as he pulled out a pair of scissors so he could get a better look at the wound. He listens for a moment and winces, "Griffin attack? That's it?" He shakes his head and begins to work immediately the wound on Charlie's arm starting to knit itself back together.

~O~

It's been four days since she happened upon her former boss and neighbor bleeding out in front of his apartment. The blood was mostly cleaned up, save for a couple of stains that grew less and less prominent every day. Other than clattering and clanging that she sometimes hears coming from Charlie's apartment, she'd never even know he had a brush with death.

But her curiosity is getting the better of her and just as she and Tony are coming back from a grocery trip, she gets the chance to check in on him. The door to his place is left wide open and she can't stop herself from taking a peeking glance in order to make sure that he is alright. She had expected something similar to the shop, towers and shelves made of old ratty newspapers and a healthy layer of dust to blanket the entire living space. Instead she's shocked to find out that his apartment is actually _spotless_ and neat. She stares at it not quite noticing that Antonio immediately walks inside like he owns the place. " _Tony_ —" Who knows what horrors are actually inside.

"Hey Mr. Charlie!" Antonio says loudly. "Are you writing with a _feather_? That is _so_ cool."

Antonio's voice is enough to distract Charlie from what he was working on and he turns to look at the smiling boy. "Oh, the hairless dwarf is back—how did you get past my wards?"

"You left your door open," Santana shook her head, he kept mentioning wards but she had yet to see anything.

Charlie turned to her for a moment and then put the quill in his hand down, "Thank-you," he said after a moment. "I think I forgot to say it earlier, thank you for helping me."

Santana studied him for a moment, "I didn't do anything, Rachel is the one that talked me through everything. I didn't know what to do. I mean I had the stupid idea to use dragonfire to cauterize the wound." It seems to be news to Charlie who raises a brow at that. "Rachel told me not too."

"She would, and she was right too. Dragonfire has magical properties, which is why dwarves love the stuff. Helps make their armor and weapons. Nothing is stronger than a dwarven axe," Charlie mumbles and picks up the quill again turning back to his work.

"Can I meet a dwarf?" Antonio asked as he pulled out the chair and sat at Charlie's dining table. "Are they nice?"

"Yes, the dwarves are _lovely_ people, especially when they're drinking and fighting. You'd fit right in with your height, shame about the lack of chest hair though or beard. I wouldn't drink their beer though. Tastes like dirt. Actually, _most_ of their food tastes like dirt, they love the stuff though."

"You don't have a beard," Antonio pointed out, kicking his feet as he looked at what Charlie was working on.

"I'm not a dwarf," Charlie reminded him. "I'm a magician, why does everyone forget this? Dwarves can't do magic."

Antonio nods like this makes sense and peers at the sheet, there were a bunch of squiggly lines and odd shapes all over the large paper. "What are you doing?"

Santana watched Antonio carefully, he had never really taken to anyone like this before, but he treated Charlie like he was an old friend. "Antonio we should probably let Charlie work—"

"Calculations," Charlie interrupts.

"Like math?" Antonio crinkles his nose. "But you're _magic_ why do you have to do _math_."

Charlie stops for a moment and puts the quill back down. He frowns, studying Antonio for a moment. "Magic isn't just waving my hands around and hoping that things work out."

"It isn't?" Santana asks causing him to turn to her. "You could have fooled me," she adds for good measure.

"It's a craft, and while I've mastered many basic spells and I can do things without thinking about them, the vast majority of Magician's can't." Charlie held up his hand watching as arcs of electricity appeared for a second. "Not everyone can do that. That's _simple_ , but a spell this complicated?" Charlie gestures to his table, where there are two huge books laying there. "Well, I need to do the correct calculations, it needs to be precise and accurate because if it's not _perfect_ then I could do something unintended. So calculations are needed so I don't blow or summon something that I didn't want to."

"Oh," Antonio said in a disappointed manner, that seemed boring. He huffs and kicks his feet.

"So it's not all summoning dragons?" Santana asked putting the bags of groceries down at the doorstep and entering his apartment.

"No, that's only a small part of what I do. The summoning, the retrieving magical objects, the antiquities. The getting attacked by homicidal griffins—" Charlie trails off and looks back at Santana and smiles. "Tiny part of my business, the _fun_ part of my business, the rest is double checking work, and creating and making new spells."

Antonio huffs, this was _boring_. "I wanted to take you in for show and tell so you could do _magic_ , because my mom said that I couldn't take Spot."

"Spot?" Charlie crinkles his nose and looks at Santana.

"He decided to name his dragon that, despite the fact that it has no spots that I'm aware of," Santana explains, there's a large part of her that wants to snoop around Charlie's apartment but she doesn't.

"Oh—what's this show and tell business?"

"Antonio, you can't take Charlie in for show and tell, I'm sure he's busy and—"

"Well, no I'm not. My last assistant quit after a day and I decided to close the shop until I get another assistant. So this show and tell business?"

"It's every Friday." Tony shrugs. "And we're supposed to bring someone or something that people want to see. I want to show my class _magic_."

"Magic, huh?" Charlie scratches his chin thoughtfully.

"No." Santana says immediately. Charlie plus innocent young children unsupervised? That was a recipe for disaster.

"But _mom_! I want to have the best show and tell _ever_."

"I do too!" Charlie agrees. He's not sure what show and tell is but he _definitely_ is ready for the challenge. "Don't worry, just give me a time and I'll be there—but uh maybe stick a note on my door so I don't forget."

"Charlie—"

"It'll be _fine_ Santana. I know what I'm doing," Charlie vows with a wave of his hand before looking at the paper in front of him. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to finish this for a client and I'm already a month behind schedule."

Santana pinches the bridge of her nose. She can't say no to Antonio's infectious glee which meant she was going to need to show up to make sure Charlie didn't do something stupid. The last thing she needed was to have Tony's teachers turned into an alligator or accidentally explode something. She wasn't about to set him loose on a kindergarten class unsupervised. "No dragons."

"No dragons," Charlie repeats with a wave of his hand. She really seemed stuck on this dragon thing.

"Come on Antonio, we've got to put all these groceries away. The ice cream is probably melting." It's enough to get her son to hop off the chair and immediately head to the bags to help her move them inside her apartment. She glances at Charlie once more, but he seems to be absorbed in his work, and is currently muttering to himself. She _hoped_ that she could take the time off to supervise him.


	6. Chapter 6

Antonio shifted nervously as everyone stared at him, and he resisted the urge to hide behind Charlie's long legs. "Um—this is my show and tell. Mr. Charlie lives across the hall from us and he's a magician! He does really cool magic." Antonio looks at Charlie he really doesn't look like much of a magician. "Like summoning dragons."

Charlie glanced down at Antonio, "Your mom said no dragons," he reminded him keeping his voice low. Not that he would anyway, there were far too many little people and technically he wasn't supposed to be doing this to begin with. They were _technically_ a secret society.

"Fine, but I still think you should." Antonio whispers back and looks at Charlie expecting him to do something. When he doesn't move he crinkles his nose. "You said you'd do magic so do magic," Antonio whispered back before heading to his desk so he could watch the show. Besides his mom wasn't even there, so Mr. Charlie could do whatever he wanted.

Charlie hummed absentmindedly and looked at the classroom filled with little people. There was one teacher at the back who was smiling encouragingly. The little people looked bored. He knew the feeling very well. "So." He begins. "Hello, classroom filled with little people. Apparently calling you hairless dwarves is politically incorrect." He gets an unimpressed look from the class and he sighs and pulls out a fancy deck of cards.

"Magic isn't _real_."

"Of _course_ it is," Charlie insists shuffling the cards absentmindedly turning to the kid who said it, the cards were flying quickly between his fingers and he realized that he suddenly had the attention of the vast majority of the class. "There's magic all around you, and it's _amazing_ and glorious and so complex."

"But where's your wand?"

"Are you going to pull a bunny out of a hat?"

"I haven't used a wand since I was ten, and no. Rabbits creep me out," Charlie responds holding the deck of cards out, before spreading them out so that they could see that the face of the cards were all different. "So." He says a smirk on his face. "Who wants to see some magic?"

"Stop!" Santana breathed heavily as she stormed into the classroom. She had practically sprinted from the parking lot and only caught the tail end of Charlie's question. Today had been the day from hell and she definitely didn't want Charlie terrorizing innocent children with mythical beasts.

Everyone in the room turns to her and Antonio groans before waving at her. "Hi mom! Charlie was going to show us some magic—so shush!"

"What he said," Charlie agrees with Antonio glancing at Santana for a moment wondering why she was even here. He shakes his head before turning his attention back to the cards, this required some concentration to make it work. None of this was particularly intensive magic, a few illusion spells a small tracking spell and then one very minor transformation spell. It was his weakest area of magic, but so long as he was just working with cards then he was sure he could pull it off.

Santana winces and shifts ready to use her body as a shield in case anything went wrong but instead she's surprised to see Charlie shuffle the cards once more before spreading them on a child's desk. "Please don't summon something insane," she mumbles under her breath.

"Pick a card. Any card of course and show it to the rest of the class," Charlie says to the little—he squints a bit so he can get a better look at the little person—probably a girl. He never could tell them apart when they were that tiny. He turns his back. "Don't show me of course, that would ruin the entire trick and no one shout it out either. How am I supposed to impress you if I know the answer?"

The kids all giggle, captivated as they look at the chosen card. Santana glances at it, three of diamonds. She tilts her head to Charlie, watching him, he's concentrating and his fingers are moving in a jerky pattern and he's mouthing some words. She swallows, hoping that nothing went wrong. As far as she had seen, and from what Rachel promised her, Charlie was a brilliant magician so long as he wasn't distracted. She rarely saw him focused to begin with but this time he seemed to be powering through any distractions.

"Okay, Mr. Charlie!" Antonio called out pleased that everyone seemed excited. This had been his best idea _ever_.

"Okay, put the card in the deck," Charlie instructs his hands returning to his sides and he waits for a moment before turning around. He doesn't touch the cards on the child's desk, instead he points to a random kid. "You, dwarf with the freckles, I want you to take the deck, _carefully_ , and pass out the cards. Everyone has one, and then I want you to give the rest of the cards to the teacher. Don't peek though." He warns the class.

A quiet hush falls over the class as each of them watches Charlie for any hint of a mistake. Some of the kids seem captivated on his every movement, while others seem to be fairly skeptical, but Charlie takes it all in stride. Charlie waves his fingers theatrically. "Alright, now we're all going to say the magic word: Pancakes." He declares proudly. He's researched enough charlatan magicians to know that they _always_ have a magic word.

"What type of a magic word is pancakes?" A bigger kid from the back of the class scoffs.

"Have you ever _had_ pancakes?" Charlie retorts, his eyes narrowing. It was better than some stupid made up word like Kablammo—actually, that one was pretty good. He would have to remember that for next time. He shakes off the criticism and squares his shoulders. "The magic word _today_ is Pancakes. So everyone wave your hand over your card and say it with me on the count of three."

Santana smirks when Charlie begins to count dramatically. He's weirdly terrific with a group of six year olds and it's almost endearing. _Almost_. Then he glances over at her and smirks and she remembers the dragon waiting back at home. She frowns at him and gives him a suspicious look.

" _Pancakes_."

"Alright flip the cards over! Is _that_ your card?" Charlie asks even though he already knows the answer. Immediately they all began to chatter, surprise written on their faces. They were _little_ people, they were easily amused.

"How did you do that?"

Charlie eyes flick to the boy at the back who was looking at him suspiciously. "Magic, obviously."

"Magic isn't real!" He insists crossing his arms over his chest. "My daddy says that it's just an allusion!"

"Illusion, well I suppose it is illusion magic," Charlie mumbles squinting at the kid, he really needs to find his glasses. "Well, how about you pass the cards back up to the front and I'll do one more trick, real magic."

" _Charlie_ ," Santana presses immediately but she can already see that he is simply going to ignore her. She pinches the bridge of her nose, maybe she should have called Rachel to see how to stop him.

"It's a shame that you don't believe in magic. There are things that you'll never be able to understand, you need to have an imagination, because magic—" Charlie said as the cards began to float in the air around him. By now he had everyone's attention and he flicked his wrists sending the cards flying. They were to busy watching the cards in the air to notice him mouthing the words, and twisting his fingers but the cards exploded into flowers before slowly raining down over the classroom. "Kablammo." Charlie finishes.

"No way!"

"How did you do that?"

"That's so _cool_."

Charlie beams at the praise. Maybe little people weren't so bad after all. He notices the boy at the back glaring at him and shudders. That one definitely has to be a very mean hairless dwarf. He turns to Santana for a moment watching her watch the flowers rain down, there was something in her eye that made him smile. She was most definitely going to be his assistant again.

~O~

Antonio is walking ahead of them, just far enough away that he feels like he's doing it all by himself but close enough that Santana could catch up in an instant if she thought he was actually in danger. He'll lag back every once in awhile just to make sure his mom isn't far enough away and Santana can't help but feel a little ping in her heart that her boy is growing up so fast. After a minute of walking in silence, she sighs. "You did a really good job."

Charlie doesn't answer seemingly lost in his own thoughts. She clears her throat and nudges him a little. "You did well."

This time Charlie looks over with a small smile. "Oh? Well, they weren't dwarves so it was much easier to impress them, though you really should check out that kid in the back. I swear he had a beard."

"He didn't."

Charlie shrugs. "He acted like a dwarf."

Santana shakes her head, he was weird, and she wasn't sure if she truly trusted him when he said he had gotten drunk with a bunch of dwarves. "Thank you. You know for not summoning a dragon or blowing up the school—you were good with them, and because of you Antonio made a lot of new friends."

"Summoning dragons is a small part of what magic is and there shouldn't be explosions unless you're actually aiming to blow stuff up. I'm an excellent magician, despite what anyone else says." He's not boasting, he's just stating a fact. "You would know this if you were my assistant."

"Yeah, that was for all of ten minutes and it was a clusterfuck." Santana scoffs.

"It wasn't a clusterfuck, it was just—disorganized." Charlie admits. He probably should never have left her alone, but he had gone to make sure she understood what was expected of her. She needed to be trained and the last thing he wanted to do was send her to the academy where she would be poached by someone else.

"Sure." She rolls her eyes. "If your definition is disorganized is a couple near death experiences and almost being turned into spider food."

"You entered into it's territory and like any wild animal it defended its territory," Charlie explains. "You saw a reflection of your fears, it was trying to get you to runaway. But you saw through it which confused it, hence why it went after Antonio. I _told_ you not to go back there."

"Well maybe if you had warned me that there was a shapeshifting monster back there I wouldn't have gone back there," Santana frowns trying to shake the memory of her abuela from her head. "I don't think I can handle all that— _weird_. I mean sure it's all fun and games when you're entertaining children but I don't know what the different types of fire are. I have no idea what a manticore is—"

Charlie held up his hand to stop Santana from talking, and fished around in his pockets pulling out a small marble. He taps it and winces as the marble heats up but quickly begins to craft sculpting a manticore and changing the properties of the marble until there was a glass lion-like creature with huge batwings and a scorpion's tail in his hand. He flicks his eyes to Santana for a second before rotating his pinky and flicking his thumb. Santana jumped in surprise as the glass figurine began to move along Charlie's extended hand. The manticore figurine seemed to spit and hiss and flap its wings. " _That's_ a manticore. Just bigger, and far more vicious." Without hesitating Charlie drops the glass figurine letting it shatter against the ground.

"So how do you kill it? Apparently the only way to heal a victim of manticore venom is to—"

"Kill the manticore from which the venom came from." Charlie finished for her. He nodded silently to himself, Santana was quick and she really would be the perfect assistant. "When summoning a manticore, which is the _height_ of stupidity, it's best to anchor it to an object that can easily be destroyed. They're vicious creatures, mindless killing machines really so if you make a mistake, it will kill you, that's why no one who is intelligent summons one. Not to mention manticore venom is basically a restricted substance." Charlie frowns for a moment and shakes his head before looking at Santana. "You would know all of this if you were still my assistant."

"You must love this, right? Being the smartest guy in the room with all your magical know-how?" Santana teased. He is good at it and even if he is a little bit of an asshole. "What would we ever do without you?"

But Charlie frowns."I don't revel in your magical ignorance. Yeah, I get free cookies now when Tony sneaks them over to my apartment but you have a lot of potential and not a lot of training."

" _That's_ where they've been going?"

"Well, he needs to pay me for all the dragon treats somehow, and I told him I take my payment in cookies." Charlie mused.

Santana stared at him, he still hadn't had the conversation about rent for the apartment, and she wasn't quite ready to remind him just yet. Money was tight right now. "I thought he was eating them all," she flicks her eyes to Tony for a moment.

"That would be a _lot_ of cookies." Charlie shrugs at this and looks at Antonio or a moment before going back to the mental calculations that he was working on. He had said what he had needed to.

Santana yawns, the early morning hours from the bakery and the adrenaline from the day finally getting to her. "Fuck I'm tired."

Charlie scowls. "Why? Are you not getting enough sleep?"

Santana laughs. Of _course_ she's not. "I have a six year old son that doesn't want to go to bed until nine and an asshole boss that wants me to be at the bakery during ungodly hours of the morning."

"So come work for me." Charlie suggests again.

"It's not that easy."

"Why can't it be?"

"Because you grew up with all of this," Santana gestures vaguely. "I have _no_ idea how to deal with this world of magic and whatever other shit is out there."

"You're _scared_." Charlie corrects bluntly. "It's the same reason you freaked out today—yes, I did notice that. It's like learning a second language, you're _going_ to make mistakes at first but once you finally get it an entire world opens up to you with culture and experiences that you can't even dream of."

"I'm not _scared_." Santana bristles at the thought. "Why do you care so much anyway?"

"I don't." He shrugs when she simply glares at him and continues, "Not really. I wouldn't be angry with you if you made mistakes as my assistant—that's what assistants are there for. Despite Rachel's insistence that she knew what she was doing, I had to clean up a few of _her_ messes. But the idea that you are okay just living in ignorance bothers me. You're _afraid_ and that is why most people are afraid—because they are ignorant and don't know any better."

"I have a _son_." Santana counters. "I think that's a _damn_ good reason to be afraid of fire breathing dragons and poisonous manticore's and giant ass spiders."

"You think you're the only person in the world to grow up normal while always knowing that they didn't quite belong? You aren't special. You have an opportunity that most people in the world never get. You're _gifted_ and most people that are continue going through the motions and forcing themselves to fit into a world that will never get them. They go unnoticed and they live out their boring short lives. It offends me that you would throw away an opportunity just because you are afraid."

"It _offends_ you?"

"Yes, it does. You have potential and you're throwing it away. There is a whole world out there that you want to ignore and pretend it doesn't exist. What I don't understand is that from where I'm standing, the scariest thing is not knowing and not understanding. How can you protect anyone if you don't know what you're up against? Had you known that it was a boggart, you wouldn't have been frightened and you would have immediately known what to do." Charlie waved the thought away. "If you want to spend your life working at a bakery then do so, the cookies are delicious."

"I told you, I'm _not_ afraid." Santana frowns. "Is it so wrong to just want a normal stupid job where I don't have to worry about being murdered?"

Charlie turned to Santana and raised a brow, "Murdered? You weren't in any danger, you got scared. Boggarts don't _kill_ people. With the exception of a few exotic creatures that I bring back for Brittany like the basilisk eggs, the only danger that's in my shop is the odd papercut or tripping over some broken furniture. You aren't a Magician, you _aren't_ going to be taking _any_ of the risk I am. You aren't in danger so long as you realize your limitations and don't do anything stupid like Artie did."

She's quiet for a moment thinking over what he had just said. She glances at Antonio, he didn't seem to fear anything when it came to Charlie and magic. He seemed to trust that Charlie knew what he was doing at any given time. Once upon a time _that_ had been her. She _hated_ the job at the bakery and she couldn't go back to waitressing. She wanted to be there for her son. She turns to Charlie who seemed to have grown bored with the conversation and exhales. "Rachel told me she had been making two hundred dollars an _hour_." Santana counters.

Charlie snorts at this and looks at Santana, "I am not paying you two hundred dollars an hour. You don't even have a license. You're currently living in my building rent free, I babysit for you in the mornings when you have to go to work. Rachel made two hundred an hour because she is fully licensed to be an assistant, and she's a member of the union. She needs to update her skills every ten years, to keep her licence. You quite frankly are a beginner."

"But no one else will work with you." Santana pointed out, she knew she was pushing her luck and quite possibly being greedy.

"The same could be said about you," Charlie counters. "No other magician in the city is going to hire you. You don't have a licence. You don't know the first thing about magic."

"The difference is that you _need_ an assistant." Santana's not backing down from this. "I was the _only_ applicant."

Charlie frowns and chews on his lip. He's growing more bored with this conversation by the second and there are a million other things he can find to distract himself with. "Fine. I won't pay you two hundred, but one-fifty. And you still bake me two dozen cookies every week to pay for dragon treats."

"One-thirty and no cookies." Santana barters. She's so sick of that damn bakery and if she never sees flour again she'll be too happy.

"One-fifty and _one_ dozen cookies." He could get Tony to steal more if needed. "Rachel always left a plate out for me." Charlie said smugly.

Santana frowns, that was the weirdest negotiation she's ever been a part of. But that's nearly triple her original salary to begin with. " _Fine_."

"I like chocolate chip, shortbread and sugar cookies. I don't like raisins, or fruit in my cookies," Charlie informs her. "You can start first thing after you get Antonio ready, Rachel and Mike will be the ones training you." Charlie adds after a moment. He's not a teacher and if Santana was going to pass her Assistance exam, she was going to need all the help she could get. As far as he saw it Quinn and Brittany _owed_ him this since they had poached his damn assistants to begin with.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been more than a couple of years since Mike had been inside Pandora's antiquities. It was weird coming back to his first assistant's job, it was a store that he had helped build with Charlie. He had put so much time and effort into building the store with Charlie, so seeing it in the state that it was in now hurt. He really wasn't _that_ surprised, Charlie had never truly cared about the shop. No, the shop had always been too mundane for Charlie Fabray. It was _probably_ a Fabray thing, because Brittany was just like Charlie in a way. Running a zoo was far too mundane for Brittany.

"Hey, Charlie—I'm here to teach your new assistant," Mike called out. He had discussed it with Rachel and they had agreed that he'd take the morning shift and Rachel would take the afternoon shift. The only way that they'd know for certain if Santana was ready is if she passed the Assistant's exam. It still wouldn't prepare her to be Charlie's assistant, that would require getting to know Charlie and figuring out his quirks, but at the very least she'd be able to hold her own.

The curtain to the back opened and Charlie poked his head out and squinted at Mike. "If it isn't the traitor."

Mike sighed and shook his head. Charlie was being dramatic again, "I didn't betray you Charlie, I just left to go work with Brittany."

"You chose my sister!" Charlie grumbles shaking his head. Mike had been his very first assistant, they had gone to school together and they had been partnered throughout. So Mike abandoning him to go and be with Brittany, that one had hurt.

"I married your sister. There's a difference," Mike responded with a roll of his eyes. He looks at Charlie for a moment and sighs, he was squinting again. "Where are your glasses?"

"Oh. Those got eaten months ago." Charlie crinkled his nose. "Years ago?" He shrugs and heads towards the back. He hadn't known how to get them replaced so he hadn't bothered. "Santana said something about dropping the dwarf off at school, she'll be back soon enough."

"But you hate dwarfs?" Mike furrows his brow and wonders aloud. But things with Charlie were rarely so cut and dry. It had been a while, but he'd have to think like Charlie. After a second, he brightens. "Oh. Brittany mentioned she had a child."

"He's still a little person."

"A child." Mike corrects slowly. He's not a hundred percent sure that Charlie is aware of the difference.

"Still don't trust him, even though he's not as bad as the rest." Charlie comments heading back to his workspace. "And I don't _hate_ dwarfs, it's hardly their fault they were born dwarfs and I'm not a _speciest_ , I just don't trust them. It's wired in their DNA to be greedy little bastards, and to have iron livers."

Okay. Mike nodded to himself. He could work with that. "Alright, so it's Santana's first day as a real assistant." Brittany had written him out a speech to give Charlie about how Charlie should avoid acting—well, like Charlie. But he figured he could forego the cue cards.

"Well, technically it's her _second_ first day as a real assistant," Charlie corrects.

"So what are we going to do to make sure she has a first second day?"

"Nothing, I made her sign a contract that says she can't quit." Charlie smiled pleased with himself for thinking of such a brilliant move.

Mike rubbed his eyes tiredly. Only Charlie would think that was a good idea. But he wasn't going to be deterred. "Or you could be supportive so that she doesn't _want_ to quit." He notes.

Charlie rolls his eyes. He'd ignore Mike, but Brittany had talked his ear off to remind him that Mike was trying to help. "And how would I do that?"

"Tell her she's doing a good job?" Mike suggests. "Maybe you can—"

"She's just doing a job. Just like you and Rachel did. It's like my dad always says. She has a job and she should do the best job she can. Why should I have to hold her hand and—" Charlie trails off when the door to the shop opens and he tilts his head so that he can look at Santana.

"Sorry I'm late, I think Antonio's coming down with something—but he seems to be fine enough to go to school today."

Charlie studies her for a moment before pointing to Mike. "Santana this is Mike, he's a traitor. Don't be like him, but listen to his words because he's actually somewhat competent. He's going to help you become a proper assistant. If you need me I'll be in the back working." With that he heads back behind the curtain, making sure that it's closed leaving Mike and Santana alone.

Mike groaned before smiling at Santana and extending his hand. "I'm Mike, I was Charlie's first assistant."

Santana shook his hand and glanced at the curtained off area, "You're a traitor?" She presses, she had heard that two out of three of Charlie's former assistants had been poached and she hadn't truly understood what that meant.

Mike shakes his head a small amused smile flitting onto his face. "I'm Brittany's husband, I went to go work with my wife," Mike explains. "It's not _that_ unusual. Magicians and assistants get married all the time, it's probably all that work in close proximity, the danger and well the magic of it all." Mike shrugs. While the Magician community didn't really care, the Fabray family—well he still hadn't managed to stop Russell from glaring at him.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Santana says briskly. She wasn't going to invite _weird_ into every aspect of her life.

Mike smirks, she sounded so sure of herself. He was sure he had been the same way before he had run into Hurricane Brittany. "You might be right," Mike muses. "Charlie's sort of—well he's sort of blind to those matters. I don't think he's even had a girlfriend—or a boyfriend." Mike pauses scratching his ear. "Honestly no one is quite sure which side of the spectrum Charlie's on," Mike admits and then shakes his head. They weren't here to gossip about Charlie, he could spend the entire week doing that and telling Santana stories. He opens the bag around his shoulder and pulls out a few notebooks and textbooks before placing them on the store counter, he studies them carefully before opening a folder and pulling out a few papers. "They'll be plenty of time to vent about how weird he is later. We need to turn you into a _proper_ assistant. Rachel and I agreed the fastest way to do that would be to write and _pass_ the assistants exam."

"There's an exam?" Santana crinkled her nose, studying for her GED had been difficult enough. Especially since Antonio had been teething at the time. She had never been especially good at standardized tests and adding a magical component almost made this seem impossible.

"Of course, it's the only way to test that you're a competent assistant. Every magician is different and because of that an assistant has to have a diverse set of skills," Mike explains. "For example, Charlie is well—that's a terrible example. I don't think there's anyone quite like Charlie, but I used to work here doing your job. Now I work at a zoo. I spent last night helping a Kelpie give birth," Mike shakes his head but smiles. "It was messy and tiring but it's _rewarding_."

Santana winced, she didn't even know what a kelpie was, but Mike seemed thrilled with himself and she didn't want to burst his bubble. "I'm not exactly great at standardized tests."

Mike smiles. "The assistants exam is anything but _standard_. They customize it both to your abilities and to what they expect you to know. It's general knowledge, but it's not like a strict yes or no test."

Santana arches her brow. "Okay."

"Because of Charlie's—well because he's more of a jack-of-all-trades magician, your general knowledge is going to need to be extensive and we're going to need to get you used to taking a magical test. If you've never seen one before you might freak out." Mike explains, when Santana gives him a look he sighs. "The test it _changes_ as you write it constantly, to things you've never seen before. Languages, pictures, mathematical equations. I hear the magician's exam is like that except on steroids. I'm sure Charlie can enchant some questions that Rachel will give you for homework tonight so you can get used to it."

"Of course. Because not even your tests can be normal." She shakes her head.

Mike laughed, "Yeah, but once you get the hang of it you'll be fine I promise." Mike shifts so he's a bit closer to Santana, "But before we begin with that Rachel suggested that I give you a _brief_ run through of _our_ world and the role of assistants."

"Probably a good place to start, Charlie hasn't really given me that history," Santana admits as she pulls a chair out for Mike so that they could sit down. She opens a Batman notebook that she had stolen from her son and grabs a pen.

Mike nods, that did sound like Charlie but Santana needed a point to start from and having the history would help her at least understand part of their world. "Now Rachel would probably yell at me for saying this, but I never really cared for the folklore of magicians and assistants. It goes back a long time. There's something that happened around the time of the Salem Witch Trials, but it was a long time ago and history's not really my best subject. You can find out more from Rachel if you care, but it's not that important."

Santana smirks. At least he wasn't going to bore her to death with history facts. She liked Mike better and better every second. "Okay."

"But all you _really_ need to know is that magicians and their assistants go hand in hand. There are some magicians who try to go it alone, but everybody knows that a _really_ good magician has an assistant and most assistants stick with their magician forever."

"So the three strikes policy he told me about? That's because you and Rachel both married Charlie's sisters —"

" _And_ because he lost Artie."

"Oh." Santana frowns. She's heard vague references to the other assistant but never was able to put together firm details. "What happened to him?"

Mike furrowed his brow at her tone before laughing. "Oh. Nothing. He's fine, Charlie literally just lost him in a vanishing cabinet for a while."

The answer had come far to quick and there was a look on Mike's face for her to take that as reality. "Charlie mentioned something about a manticore—"

Mike made a face and sighed, "There was also that incident—look I don't want to scare you and honestly I don't really know what happened—"

"What happened, was that I was called in to deal with a manticore crisis. Some lunatic had summoned one for whatever reason, it went bezerk. I had to put it down, Artie was upset that I simply ignored his presence and tried to show me that he was just as intelligent as I was. The manticore broke his back after it poisoned him." Charlie explains carrying a small jar as he headed towards them. He placed the container in front of Santana, "That's for your little person, smear it on his chest and if he's sick he'll be feeling better by tomorrow."

Santana took the jar of warm purple goo and tipped it to its side when it slowly slurped against the glass container she frowned. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome." Charlie declared with a proud smile. He was aceing this whole 'be nice to the new assistant' thing.

Santana stared at it there was no way that she was going to put this on Antonio. She puts it down only to have Mike pick it up and stare at it appreciatively. "Since when did your mom give you her secret recipe?" He glances at Santana. "This stuff is like the best thing in the world, it can practically do _anything_ and everything. I got a pretty bad sprain and Judy slapped this stuff on my ankle, in a few hours I could put pressure on it and by the next day it felt good as new."

Santana eyed the purple mixture not sure if she truly believed him. "What's in it?"

"That's a family secret," Charlie informs her vaguely.

At Santana's skeptical look, Mike felt obligated to explain. "That's a good thing, Charlie's mom is one of the best healers around." He turned to Charlie who was watching Santana oddly. "Thanks for this, but go away. We're trying to work."

"Fine." Charlie straightened with a huff. "But she doesn't even know what a Kelpie is."

"Which is why you need to _go_." Mike insists. He and Rachel had agreed that there was no way they would be able to teach Santana everything she needed to know if Charlie was hovering over their every move. "We have work to do."

"You're just as bad as my sister. Did anyone ever tell you that?" Charlie sneers but walks toward his backroom.

"Go away." Mike repeats. He's not going to get into this argument with Charlie now. They don't have time to waste. Charlie grumbles and Mike shakes his head in relief when he finally leaves. Once he's sure that Charlie is out of earshot, he turns back to Santana. "Okay. So Kelpies. I'm guessing you don't know a lot of magical creatures."

Santana shook her head.

"Then that's a great place for us to start. Also the easiest place to start." Mike adds after a moment. Maybe he could take Santana to the zoo before it opened one day and make sure she truly understood everything. "Let's start with the dragon, I hear you have one as a pet." Mike begins grabbing a textbook and flipping it open. This might actually be fun.

~O~

A little over three hours later, Santana felt like her brain had turned to mush. Kelpies, manticores, dragons, fucking unicorns—it was all too much. Apparently Mike noticed the way her eyes had glazed over and smiled sympathetically. "Should we take a break for lunch?"

Santana nods, it had been a _lot_ of information. Natural habitats, nutrition—mating habits, even though she didn't want to admit it, the whole thing had been _fascinating_. She packs her notebook up and begins to arrange the area, "I think we should, isn't Rachel supposed to be here around one? That means we've got two hours before I have to pick up Antonio."

Mike nods, "You'll probably get far more done with Rachel then with me, she is super organized, probably has a proper lesson plan and everything. Perhaps tomorrow or the weekend you and your son can come to our zoo. It'll be the perfect learning environment, and you can see most of these creatures up close."

She's a bit curious despite herself. Yes, she's got a six year old and _knows_ she should be avoiding this crazy world like the plague but it was fascinating and if Antonio got to learn more about this world, then maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. She's almost about to say yes when Charlie pokes his head in the room to interrupt— "Come on Santana, we're going for lunch."

She glances between Mike and Charlie before shrugging. Lunch with the new boss might be a good way to get off on the right foot. "Sure Charlie."

Charlie glares at Mike, "Just to be clear, Mike you are not invited." He had to be careful that Rachel and Mike didn't try to poach Santana like they had been. Or filled Santana's head with stories about how great being unionized was.

Mike held up his hands defensively. "You didn't _actually_ have to say that." He notes.

Charlie studies him for a moment before turning back to Santana. "There's an excellent diner just down the street, we can walk. Good for the digestion, and away from prying ears."

"I am not spying on you for Brittany," Mike says flatly. "If my wife wants to find out what you're doing she'll come harass you herself. Speaking of that, you know it's the end of the month which means your usual get together is coming up, can you _please_ show up this time?"

Santana eyed both men for a moment before walking up to Charlie and pushing him towards the door, "You're paying for lunch right?"

It's enough to split Charlie's focus and he scowls at her. "You should be treating me to lunch with what I pay you," he grumbles.

"So that's a yes?"

Mike smirks as Santana waits expectantly for Charlie to open the door. Maybe he and Rachel had underestimated Santana, she was going to do just find managing Charlie. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she had practice managing a six year old. He grinned at the similarities and made a note to tell Brittany that.

Santana waved at him as they left the store, and turns her attention back to Charlie who seemed to be pouting. "You shouldn't worry, I'm not going to abandon you. Certainly not to work in a zoo."

"I should hope not, it's smelly work," Charlie shakes his head at this. "Just stay away from my sister's they're _tricky_. They like to poach my assistants."

"It seems like that they simply offer perks that you don't," Santana comments off-handedly.

Charlie crinkles his nose, "Like what?"

Santana looks at him pointedly. When he doesn't even blink, she sighs. "Well they did get married."

Charlie raises a brow at this, "I don't understand."

Santana blinked, Mike had implied that Charlie wasn't that interested in sex and that sort of thing. "Well they dated right? Like going to dinner and dancing everything that dating entails."

"Dating sounds horrendously boring," Charlie says with a shake of his head.

"Dating can be fun," Santana informs him, she has no idea why she's defending it to him. Charlie's an odd person. "I mean I wouldn't know, having Antonio makes it a bit harder to date but even if it didn't I don't think I could get married that young. I know it's weird I have a child and I'm twenty-two—"

"Brittany's thirty-something and Quinn's my age, we are twins afterall."

"Wait, how old are you?" Santana asks. She had just assumed that Charlie was somewhere around her age. He couldn't be anything over twenty five.

"Thirty—wait" Charlie cocks his head to the side and calculates it in his mind. "No—wait, twenty-eight. Might want to double check that with Quinn to be sure. Or my mother. She'll probably know."

Santana blinked and turned to him, there was no way that he was over twenty-five. "I think I'll do that. Should I be worried that you don't know how old you are?"

Charlie waves his hand. "I don't think that's important." There wasn't any major reason for him to keep track of his age anymore.

"Right, of course not. What do you think is important?"

Charlie ponders the question before shrugging, "Right now? Right now I've been focused on spatial movement magic and combining it with matter substitution and reconstruction and deconstruction magic all while anchoring the raw magic to an inanimate object such as a door. Fine-tuning and calibrations come after I get that work done. Combining such high level magic like that? Tricky, dangerous, but if I can master it and get the calculations right—" Charlie grins and looks at Santana.

"In english?" Santana presses, there were a lot of words there and Charlie seemed excited about something.

"Oh. In layman's terms I think the right term is teleportation?" Charlie shrugs at this.

"You mean to tell me that you guys haven't figured out teleportation yet?"

"No, through the years people have certainly tried. Though it's always ended _poorly_. Well, dead to be more specific."

Santana's eyes widen at this admission, as Charlie opens the door for her to the diner. "I thought you said—"

"I said that you'll be fine, the magician is the one that takes all the risks. That's what I'm doing taking all the risks." Charlie quickly explains.

Santana frowns. That doesn't exactly make her feel any better. "You're not going to cause some explosion that makes me die some horrible fiery death, right?"

"Your magical ignorance astounds me." Charlie frowns dryly.

"It's not _impossible_ , right? It's be like breaking the sound barrier, right? Where there's a burst of energy because you punched through something that everybody says is impossible? All I'm saying is make sure that you're not going to cause some big explosion and kill me when you break through to wherever you're trying to go." Santana defends. She may be new to this world but she's seen Harry Potter and it can't be that far off.

Charlie opens his mouth to protest but then frowns as he leads her to the table. That's actually a good point. Maybe he needed to look at spatial reconstruction a different way: he's been calculating his reconstructions with every other aspect in space time as a fixed point, but maybe he needs to look at it more as a _displacement_ of spatial energy. "I promise I won't try anything if I think you could get blown up."

Santana nods. "That's all I ask."

The waitress comes to their table and smiles brightly. "Hi Charlie. I haven't seen you for a few days, I missed you."

Charlie barely glances up at her. "Yeah, I was busy. Can I get the usual?"

The waitress nods, not bothering to write it down and then seems to take note of Santana. "Oh. uh—are you two together?"

It doesn't take a genius to see that Sheila's mood—if her name tag is actually correct—sours. Santana glances between them before feeling compelled to explain. "No, it's a work lunch—" When Charlie doesn't even flinch, she nudges his leg forcibly, "—right Charlie?"

"Huh?"

"She wants to know if we're on a _date_."

"Oh. No. God no. Dates are boring and she's my new assistant. That would be highly improper." Charlie explains distractedly, pulling out a few napkins so that he can start to jot down his new ideas for spatial displacement.

"Oh." Sheila brightens visibly at that. She turns almost ready to walk away before remembering to take Santana's order as well.

Unimpressed, Santana orders a Caesar Salad and waits for the other girl to be out of earshot before slapping Charlie gently with the back of her hand. "You don't have to be rude."

"I wasn't rude. It's _Sheila_. She's known me forever, she doesn't care."

"She was _flirting_ with you."

"No she wasn't."

"Yes." Santana insists, glancing over at their waitress who was watching their table with clear interest. "She was. You should ask her out on a date."

"Why?" Charlie finally looks up, genuinely puzzled. "I've told you, dating sounds _boring_."

Santana holds up her hands defensively. She had at least _tried_ but apparently Charlie was too dense to get it. "You don't know that, she could be nice," Santana offers lamely.

Charlie tilts his head at her confusion and then looks over at Sheila, he studies her for a moment. "Dragons are _nice_. They're also more interesting than she would be."

"You don't know that, she could surprise you."

"How, exactly? I have known Sheila for several years and _never_ has she exhibited the tiniest bit of magical leanings. How could I _ever_ find that interesting?" Charlie glances over at Sheila and then back at Santana studying her.

It takes her a moment to realize that Charlie is completely disconnected from _people_ , in a way that bothers her. He seems cognizant enough to be able to interact, but there's something so alien about the way he views things—how he sees people. "So what about me?"

"What about you?" Charlie presses putting his pen down so he can focus on Santana.

"Is that the only reason you're interested in me?" Santana replies simply, it mattered to her. For some strange reason Antonio had taken a liking to Charlie, how he viewed her and her son _mattered_. "Because I have magical leanings as you put it."

Charlie stares at Santana for a moment his hazel eyes searching her for a moment, "No, you aren't special by any stretch of the imagination, which I've told you before. I will openly admit that I'm curious about your ability to see what isn't there and I do see the use for it. I will also concede that your raw ability is certainly much stronger than anything I've ever encountered— _but_ as you are right now? You're absolutely useless to me as an assistant."

Santana scowled at his response and grinds her teeth, resisting the urge to smack him, but instead she exhales watching as he goes back to scribbling on napkins. "Fine, I'm _useless_ to you as an assistant, I get it—"

"Don't feel bad about it or get offended. You are magically illiterate, this is merely a fact. But, if you must know, I think you have a lot of potential. Once you understand, once you're _literate_ , then I think you'll be an excellent assistant." Charlie interrupts as he traces a rune out on the napkin.

Santana bristles at Charlie's accusation. But he's not _wrong_ and that makes her more furious than anything. She chews the inside of her cheek, trying to remind herself that she was getting paid a _lot_ and had free babysitting too. But there was _one_ thing she couldn't stand for, "Look I know you think I'm beneath you and you can talk down to me all you want. I've heard it all before. But _please_ don't treat Antonio like that. For some weird reason he actually looks up to you."

Hazel eyes once again travel to Santana and Charlie rests his head in the palm of his hand. "I don't think you're _beneath_ me. You simply don't _know_ anything, which works in your favor. I find other magician's to be dreadfully boring and incredibly slow as well. At least you have the excuse of being new to the world, others do not." Charlie responds calmly. He taps his finger along the table in a steady beat. "As for Antonio, I enjoy his curiosity."

Santana's lips twist into a grimace, "You don't understand what I mean. It's just me and Tony. My parents wanted me to give him up, and his father—his father handed me a few hundred dollars and told me to take care of it. So I'm protective, he's never really had a male role model to look up to, and I know I've been asking you for a lot and watching him in the mornings to make sure he's ready for school back when I was working at the bakery, but please don't just _dismiss_ him. Or treat him like he's beneath you."

Charlie's fingers stop tapping on the table and he studies Santana carefully for once his brain wasn't being pulled in a million different places at once as he focuses on the matter at hand. Santana hadn't yet pieced together that her son might have magical ability, it was far too early to tell and he'd need to make sure that Antonio didn't inadvertently tap into his own magic. At that age his magic would be wild and dangerous and without the proper focus he could burn himself out. It wasn't to the point where he was worried about the boy, but he needed to be vigilant when it came to Antonio. "I have no intention of dismissing your boy, I find his curiosity refreshing and his questions to be interesting. I've had far more interesting conversations with him about deconstruction magic than I have with magicians who are far older than me. It's _refreshing_. Besides, who else would supply me with a dozen cookies? I mean apart from you, but that's only because it's in your contract."

Santana arches her brow, trying to check his sincerity. When she seems satisfied, she smirks. "Normally I think that's supposed to work the other way around." Antonio loves his dragon and thinks that Charlie could walk on air.

Charlie narrows his eyes, slightly confused. "Why would anyone offer candy to _children_?" It seems like a bad idea to supply small children with copious amounts of sugar. It's like supplying alcohol to dwarves, it was just a terrible idea and something was going to get broken.

Santana's about to say something when Sheila comes back to the table carrying a large tray of food. It takes her a moment to realize that the food isn't for the other patrons in the diner as she begins to put the plates in front of Charlie as best as she can.

"Just give me a second on your salad," Sheila offered to Santana who was staring at the food that she had just piled in front Charlie. "Don't worry we've got two slices of your favorite pie waiting for you, and we've got a new soft-serve machine if you want some."

"I'll have a cone to take back," Charlie responds picking up one of his burgers and biting into it. He lets out a pleased sound. "Compliments to the chef," he says after a moment before grabbing a few fries and pushing them into his mouth.

Three giant cheeseburgers with a generous helping of fries with what appeared to be a giant milkshake was currently being demolished by Charlie, and Santana could only stare in horror. He wasn't a messy eater by any stretch of the imagination as he alternated between using a fork and a knife and his hands, but that was a huge amount of food, and it wasn't even the full meal. "How the _fuck_ are you not fat?"

Charlie grabbed his milkshake and sucked on the straw furrowing a brow at Santana as if the answer was obvious.

"Don't you dare say _magic_ ," Santana snapped, slightly jealous as Charlie put the milkshake down.

"Fine a very intense exercise regime, magic is _body_ and mind. I expend quite a bit of energy on a day to day basis and I need food to replenish that energy. Why do you _think_ I asked for a plate of cookies from you?"

Santana glared at him, as Sheila put her salad in front of her. She was beginning to hate magic more and more, how was _that_ fair? She sighed, at least Antonio wasn't here, he might attempt to imitate Charlie and the last thing she wanted to do was clean up puke from the floors. "Do all of you eat like this?"

"Of course, you have no idea how many times I've needed to stab Quinn's hand with a fork to get her to quit eating off my plate," Charlie responded his mouth filled with burger.

Santana groaned every time she thought she was getting the hang of being around Charlie he did something strange like this. This job was harder than she gave it credit for, and she still had four more hours of lectures with Rachel. It was going to be a long day.


	8. Chapter 8

"So, I don't understand," Santana says running a hand through her hair. "If you can do magic—well why are you an assistant?"

Rachel fights the urge to find offense at the comment. Santana simply didn't know any better. "There's nothing wrong with being an assistant. We're not _below_ Magician's by any stretch of the imagination." She nods towards the store which is still in a state of disarray. "A good magician needs an assistant like they need their hands."

Santana frowns slightly tilting her head to make sure that Antonio was still doing his homework quietly at the counter. His dragon is curled up sleeping beside him and the store is relatively quiet. She turns back to Rachel, "I thought Charlie was a _special_ case."

It's enough to bring a smile to Rachel's lips. "Well, he is. But this isn't completely unusual," Rachel comments, she had put so much effort into the store and now it was a mess. "I suppose that this is a perfect segue into the hierarchy of magicians. After a magician completes their schooling, they are given a series of incredibly difficult tests to gauge their skill level. Like the mundane world those with the best scores will be matched with the best magicians around the country so that they can begin their apprenticeship. It's also important to note that they also need to match each newly created apprentice with a magician that matches their discipline, which is where the problem lies. There aren't enough _magicians_ for that. If you're not a strong enough magician or if your grades are atrocious, then there is a chance that you simply won't get an apprenticeship."

"So is that what happened to you? You didn't get an apprenticeship."

Rachel made a face and looked away, "My grades were _fine_ , better than average. If I had the raw ability that most magicians have—I can do simple spells, average ones I don't have the magic to do complicated things. I was never going to be accepted as an apprentice, I was never going to pass the final exam. My advisor suggested that I switch into the assistant program, while it may have crushed my spirits at the time, ultimately I think it was the right decision. I was already ahead of the curve because of my magician background and assistants that can do simple spells are in high demand."

"Oh, good for you." Santana cringed at how that sounded. She shook her head. "Sometimes I find it hard to believe that Charlie somehow managed to pass."

Rachel snorts and then realizes that Santana was being serious, "Magic generally runs in families, the more _pure_ your bloodline is the stronger the next generation generally is, as a rule of thumb. Every now and again a family that is _rich_ in magic will produce a mundane child. I personally believe the very first assistant was from one of those families." Rachel smiles at the thought.

"So who's the strongest?" Santana inquired. "Out of Charlie and his sisters?"

"Power wise? Quinn's definitely the most powerful, then Charlie and probably Brittany."

"Of course, you aren't biased at all, right?" Santana scoffs dryly. She didn't expect Rachel to talk badly about her wife, but she was genuinely curious.

Rachel laughs, amused by Santana's honesty. It was refreshing, in a way and from what Mike had reported Santana already had Charlie on a short leash. "I am biased, Quinn is my wife. But, if you don't believe me you can ask Charlie and Brittany, both of them will confirm that Quinn does have more raw magical ability than the two of them. They might report that _reluctantly_ but it's true. But—the reverse is true. While Quinn may be the strongest, Brittany is a genius when it comes to the theoretical side of magic. In fact many in the magician community think it's a waste that she's spending all her time running a zoo instead of spending all her time creating new magic. Charlie is also brilliant when it comes to theory, Quinn on the other hand—well not so much." It was why Charlie and Brittany could blow Quinn's wards to hell despite being exceptionally powerful. It always made Quinn furious and she could never quite figure out how they did it.

Antonio watched his mom study from the corner of the shop with a frown. This was _so_ boring. Spot nips at his fingers, and he smirks. He didn't realize dragons got bored too. He glances at his mom before picking Spot up and moving toward the big heavy curtain. He bites his lip before poking his head inside. "Mr. Charlie?"

Charlie looked up from where he was sitting down, a coin rotating rapidly in the air just above his outstretched hand. There were massive papers spread out on a work bench in front of him. "Antonio? What are you doing back here?" He closes his fist catching the coin and he shifts so he can get a better look at the hairless dwarf.

"I'm _bored_ and I wanna see some more magic." Antonio hesitates and looks around. "There isn't any spiders back here are there?"

"Nope. Even if there were, Spot there would protect you." It was one of the good things about dragons, they were like natural nannies. There wasn't much trouble a boy could get into that a dragon wouldn't be able to protect him from. He motions for Antonio to enter. "I can't keep doing magic for you Antonio, I'm not here to amuse you."

"You're not?" Antonio furrows his brow.

"Of course not, _you're_ the hairless dwarf." Charlie puts down the coin and smirks. "If anyone should be entertaining someone, _you_ should entertain me."

"But I can't do magic."

Charlie hums at Antonio's assertion. He's _fairly_ certain that isn't completely true but he will just have to wait it out. "So entertain me with dragon tricks. Show me how far you've managed to go with her training. Can she sit? Or blow fireballs?"

Antonio crinkled his nose and looked at Spot, "Her? You said it was a boy!"

He hadn't really paid much attention to the dragon but looking at it now and noticing it's small baby horns gave away it's sex. "I gave you a dragon what does it matter if it's a girl dragon? They end up bigger and stronger than the male ones anyway. Smarter too, and she's protected you so why does it matter?"

"Spot's a _boy's name_." Antonio insisted. "And girls have _cooties!_ "

"Well, Antonio. I'm sorry to tell you this but Spot is a terrible name for a dragon. So, you should probably rename her. Also, she's a dragon. They are _very_ clean animals. I mean you haven't had to deal with any dragon droppings, have you?"

"Mom makes it go outside on the balcony, in a litter box." Antonio explains approaching Charlie, his eyes darting around carefully looking for giant spiders.

Charlie shakes his head. That's probably completely unnecessary, but it never hurts to teach dragons rules while they are young. "So, does she know any tricks?" He asks again.

Antonio brightens and steps in front of his dragon enthusiastically. "Yeah, watch this." He squares his shoulders, "Spot, sit."

The dragon cocks her head to the side and huffs a warm plume of smoke.

"Sit." Antonio repeats.

Spot backs up but doesn't really come close to sitting. Her eyes are wide as she watches Antonio's every movement for a hint as to what she's supposed to do. After a minute, she loses interest and starts sniffing about the back room.

Even as Spot buries her head in some of Charlie's older dusty books, Antonio beams. "Did you see that? She was _so_ close!"

Charlie scratches his head thoughtfully. It was better than nothing, but he wasn't exactly an animal trainer himself. He grins as he remembers a couple of books he has laying around. It only takes about half an hour of having Antonio read out the names of the old books before he finds the one he's looking for. "Here. This should help you with dragon training."

"Thanks!" Antonio beams and somehow manhandles the book that's nearly as big as himself under his arm.

Charlie cocks his head to the side at Antonio's exuberance. "I thought your mom said you were feeling sick."

Antonio's shoulders droop a little, "Oh. Yeah. I'm real sick."

"Oh." Charlie nods even though he doesn't believe it for a second. He knew what it was like to claim being sick just to get out of uncomfortable situations. Unfortunately, his mother was the best healer that he knew so it never worked. It usually ended up with him getting a mouthful of something that tasted absolutely revolting and his mother's amused smile.

After a few minutes of watching Charlie work, Antonio drums his fingers against the table. "So how do you prove that magic exists?"

Charlie puts down the book he wasn't really reading. He hasn't really thought about it before because he hasn't ever needed to. Magic existed the same way air existed, it just _was_. "Well I would _probably_ do some extreme spell like transfiguration or summoning a dragon—"

"That's what you did to prove to my mom."

"You're right, and it worked." Charlie declared triumphantly.

Antonio seemed to process the information and Charlie watched him for a minute before prodding gently. "Why do you need to prove that magic exists?" It wasn't an issue right now, no one really believed little people when they said that magic existed, the mundanes thought it was cute.

Antonio shrugs and immediately looks away.

"It's not the same reason you're 'real sick' is it?" Charlie asks pointedly.

Antonio huffs at being called out. He's used to not getting away with _anything_ but his mom's been distracted enough that she didn't notice he was telling a lie. He wasn't sick, he just didn't like going to school. "Mom says it's not nice to hit girls but she pushed me and I scraped my knee and she says _magic_ is for babies."

"Well that's ridiculous, what magic would babies be able to do?" Charlie asks crinkling his nose. Babies were even less trustworthy than little people and they smelled funny too.

Antonio smiled at this, Charlie was right, what magic would babies be able to do? He just needed to show her that magic was real and cool. "So can you teach me how to summon a dragon?"

"No." Charlie responds flatly.

"Oh, what about that card trick that you showed everyone can you show me how to do that?"

"I did four spells in quick succession, all of which are advanced spells," Charlie comments absentmindedly. "The answer by the way is no."

Antonio huffed at this response as he struggled to hold onto the book that Charlie had given him watching as Charlie opened his palm and the coin began to levitate he watched in amazement. "Why not?"

"Because dwarfs, even the hairless kind can't do magic? That and I'm far too young to take on an apprentice, not to mention I'm not quite sure your mother would approve and I want to keep your mom happy so she is my assistant." Charlie explains.

Antonio made a face at this, "That's not fair," Antonio grumbled shaking his head. Maybe if he asked his mom to ask Charlie he would do it.

Charlie watched Antonio for a moment before tilting his head. "Well, you're a hairless dwarf. I'm pretty sure you already know the meaning of unfair." Charlie comments deciding to ignore the sour look that Antonio gives him. He turns back to his work and taps the table.

"But—"

"Antonio?" Santana called, there was a frantic note in her voice as she pulled back the heavy curtain and frowned at the sight of her child carrying a massive book and looking a bit guilty. "What are you doing back here? I thought this place was off-limits."

"Yes, when _I'm_ not around to supervise," Charlie comments absentmindedly. "He's perfectly safe in here while I'm here."

Santana shakes her head and stares at the large thick book in Antonio's arms, she couldn't even get him to read books normally and now here he was carrying large archaic books in his arms, he'd spend most of the night stumbling over words and asking her what they meant. "Still, you shouldn't bother Charlie while he works. I don't trust him not to get distracted and accidentally blow something up."

"Really?" Antonio asks looking at Charlie. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"No." Charlie responds before Santana can say anything. He stares at Spot for a moment before picking the dragon up and placing it on the ground. He really did need to focus on creating this new protection ward.

Antonio huffs, and looks at his mom, his bottom lip trembling, but he was rewarded with a look from his mom that let him know that he wasn't going to get his way.

"Have you finished your homework? Rachel and I are done for the day, but let me make sure your homework is done and I'll make dinner."

"That's an excellent idea, I'm starving." Charlie declares finally paying attention and getting up. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until Santana had said something.

Santana narrowed her eyes at him, there was no way she was doing this whole 'magician's assistant' thing by day _and_ cooking for him and taking care of him at night. "No. We're not doing this." She shakes her head.

"Doing what?"

"This thing where you invite yourself over for dinner. No. Figure out your own food." She turns to her son and smiles at him. "I'll make you your favorite."

Antonio grins pleased and looks over at Charlie, "Mom makes the best Enchiladas." He smirks at Charlie who crinkles his nose. "Come on Spot, let's go for dinner!"

Charlie watches them go and makes a face. The least Santana could do was make him dinner once in a while. He was all but raising her son and he was curious as to what enchiladas were. They sounded delicious. "Well, I guess I'll just go back to the diner and have some steak." He mumbles mostly to himself. Maybe he could go visit his parents and get his mother to make him something to eat. But he didn't like the idea of dinner with a lecture. He sighs inwardly.

Rachel had poked her head in to make sure that everything was okay and she noticed the look on Charlie's face. It was a look she hadn't seen on Charlie's face before, well not directed towards anything other than his work at least. "Santana's pretty nice, right?"

Charlie's frown deepens. "No. She's rude and opinionated, and she makes me watch her hairless dwarf and won't even make me dinner to say thank you!"

"What's she supposed to be thanking you for?" Rachel fights a smirk. She never thought she'd see the day that Charlie was _actually_ attracted to another human being. Quinn isn't going to believe her.

"Free babysitting? Letting her be my assistant? Introducing her to the world of magic?" Charlie crosses his arms over his chest. "Take your pick."

"You know, if you want to spend more time with her, Quinn asked me on a date. We went to dinner and she brought me flowers—"

"Gross." Charlie grumbled in disgust. "That sounds incredibly boring." He pauses after a second. "Wait, maybe you're right—not about that because dating _is_ boring. But Santana said Quinn offered you something, a perk to being married. What is it?"

Rachel choked. "Um, well Charlie—"

"I don't have time for your embarrassment." Charlie waves his hand dismissively. "Just tell me. What does Quinn give you."

"Charlie, we're _married._ You did catch us naked with each other. Several times if my mortification remembers correctly."

Charlie grimaces at the memory. "I don't see what that has to do with anything. Why would I want to get naked with another person?" He wonders aloud.

Rachel's jaw drops. When she planned her day today, she had been prepared for just about anything. Not even she could have anticipated this. Was she supposed to explain sex to him? That seemed awfully uncomfortable.

But Charlie didn't even notice Rachel's disbelief. "It makes even less sense for you, since the pair of you can't procreate. What's the point?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, "We're hardly the _first_ same-sex magical pairing. There are spells for that, in fact there are quite a few sex spells if you're interested in that sort of thing."

"I'm not," Charlie said flatly. "The only thing I trust less than a little person is a baby. They smell awful, no little thing should smell that bad." He shudders and frowns and then looks at Rachel and squints at her. "You let _Quinn_ cast spells?"

"She's not _that_ bad. In fact, she's incredibly talented thank you very much." Rachel shakes her head. If it were anyone else, she'd be horrendously offended at the insult to her wife, but she understands Charlie more than most people.

"Perhaps." Charlie comments offhandedly, he would certainly never trust Quinn to do sex spells correctly. He shrugs it off, it was Rachel's funeral if that was the case. His stomach growls and Charlie looks up at Rachel expectantly. "What are we having for dinner?"

"We?"

"If I can't have enchiladas, then whatever you make for Quinn will probably suffice."

Rachel stares at her former employer for a moment, her heart truly went out to Santana. "No Charlie. I'm having a nice dinner with _my_ wife and you aren't invited."


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a little over three weeks of regularly scheduled training sessions and both Mike and Rachel were astounded at Santana's progress. She still struggled with any spell that was beyond a beginner level, but she had already memorized various poisons and antidotes along with being able to recognize most magical animals at a glance. Though if Charlie was impressed he wasn't that keen on showing it.

"So, I don't understand why you still write using the runic alphabet? Wouldn't it be easier to simply translate everything into—well normal letters?"

"We do, but some of the older spells well there aren't _English_ equivalents, you know and mixing the two well there have been issues that we haven't yet solved." Rachel explained. "You've noticed that some of the complicated spells, well they aren't in English. Magician's have to have a rudimentary understanding of many other languages. Honestly it's why many magician's don't manage to get past the first semester without repeating. That's why it's good to start teaching them early. Quinn knows eight languages—"

"Ten. She's fluent in ten," Charlie interrupts as he exits his workspace pulling the heavy curtain out of the way a small box tucked under his arm. "That is if you treat gibberish and ancient troll as separate languages, which people _should_ and I'm sure Quinn does."

Santana glanced between Rachel and Mike who looked just as confused as she felt. "Sometimes, I can't tell when you're joking."

"Good." He shoves the box toward Santana. "So for your first real act as my assistant, I need you to deliver this box for me."

Santana eyed the box carefully, there were no air holes which probably meant that it wasn't alive, which was good, but it was Charlie. It was quite possible that he had simply forgotten to put in the air holes. "What's in it?"

"Nothing dangerous." Charlie promised. At the trio of skeptical looks, he sighs. "Nothing dangerous _on it's own_. And I'm the magician here." He pushed the box a little closer to Santana and glared at the two traitors. "It's _just_ a delivery."

"Where am I taking it?" Santana asked refusing to touch the box just yet.

"Downtown. The address is on the box." Charlie responded pointing at his messy scrawl.

" _Charlie_."

"What? She's _my_ assistant! That means doing the stuff _I don't_ want to do." He crosses his arms defiantly over his chest. "I thought you two both said she was ready."

"Ready for you to ask her to box up orders—"

"Or maybe sort through your client files." Rachel amends, sharing a look with Mike. They both know what 'take this Downtown' is code for and neither of them were planning on introducing Santana to the rest of the Fabrays anytime soon. Even though they were one of the more powerful magical families around, they were hardly the most well liked.

Santana's head snapped between Rachel and Charlie, trying to gauge the level of danger here. If Charlie was going to murder her by dropping off some box, then she was done.

"It's not like I'm asking her to extract a basilisk fang. Though—"

"You _are_ asking her to run deliveries to your _father._ " Rachel retorts. Of the three of them, she had been Charlie's assistant the longest and she was the one who could call him out on his odd behaviors the easiest.

" _Please_ , I've seen scarier boggarts than my father," Charlie shook his head. He didn't quite understand why Mike and Rachel were scared of him. He was a grouchy old man who drank far too much and scowled way to often and liked to throw his weight around. He also was a bit of a blowhard and he was busy, he didn't have time to listen to lectures about his life choices.

"Then why aren't you doing this?" Mike questions.

"Because, I don't want to?" Charlie reminds him and looks at Santana. "Just tell him you're not in the union and he'll probably offer you a cigar, don't take one. Mom makes him a special blend, I don't know what's in it. Also don't take any drinks that he offers, that _dwarven_ alcohol. Tastes like dirt and it will knock you on our ass."

"Also don't look him in the eye, call him Mr. Fabray, or _Russell_ for that matter and don't comment on his receding hairline." Mike adds with a roll of his eyes. He's been married to Brittany for _years_ and Russell still scared the shit out of him.

Santana stared at Mike before taking the box from Charlie, "Fine, but if he tries anything—" She frowns at scrawl and points to it. "Is this some sort of new language? Where do I find him?"

"Oh he works in the financial district, you really can't miss it. It's basically the biggest building in the area. He works on the top floor—don't let him show you the view." Mike adds after a moment shuddering. He was sure there was some threat there about being tossed out the window.

"Honestly Mike, you met him _forever_ ago. Surely you realize that half the stories about him are just rumors."

"And who _exactly_ do you think told me every single rumor about your father?" Mike retorts. When Charlie shrugs blankly, Mike holds up his left hand and points to his wedding ring.

"I don't know what that means," Charlie admits and looks at Santana. "Don't be like Mike and Rachel, he'll probably like you. He doesn't have anymore children that can poach you away."

"Uh—" Mike winces when Rachel elbows him in the ribs and smiles. "Right. No more girls, he's a bit overprotective of them."

Santana rolled her eyes, from what she gathered Russell was just an overprotective father who didn't necessarily approve of his daughter's life choices. She could handle that, he probably wasn't going to turn her into a toad or something. "So Magician's work in the financial district?"

"Some. Russell works as a banking liaison between the regular world and some of the more profitable magician endeavours. Magician's have their own economy even if it operates alongside that of the normal everyday person. Russell's been one of the financial advisors to the magical community for as long as anyone can remember."

"However do you think I pay you?" Charlie asks raising a brow.

Santana tilts her head, Charlie had a point. In all the time that she had worked here, no one had entered the store yet Charlie paid her on time every single week. It was actually rather responsible of him and it made her slightly uncomfortable. "Okay, so I just hand this over to him and then what?"

"You leave." Charlie shakes his head, that was obvious. He didn't see why Santana would want to spend time talking to his father. "Are you _sure_ she's ready?"

"Ready to play glorified pizza delivery girl? I'm sure I can handle it." Santana scoffed at him. She had no idea why she was learning all of this if Charlie was only going to treat her like a glorified delivery girl.

Charlie's stomach rumbled causing everyone to look at him, not really surprised. "Hmm, speaking of pizza perhaps on your way back you can—"

"No. You have a phone, they deliver, use it," Santana snaps at him glancing at the time, she could get back before Antonio was done from school

~0~

Santana glances down at the chicken-scratch on the brown box in her hand, verifying the address. She felt woefully underdressed in jeans and a low-cut top among the suits and designer heels that seemed to swarm around her. Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders she strode confidently into the swanky office building. She bullshits her way through obtaining a visitor badge and after a short elevator ride arrives at the lobby of the top floor. The receptionist glances up and visibly rolls his eyes before glancing back at his work and ignoring her completely.

She clears her throat. "I need to speak with Russell Fabray."

"No we're not looking to hire a new cleaning lady." He snarks at her without even bothering to actually look up. "So take your samples and go."

Santana grits her teeth. "I have a package for him."

"Unless you're a terrorist that I need to call in a bomb threat, there's _no way_ you are speaking to Mr. Fabray without an appointment."

Santana fights the urge to smack this good for nothing lackey as hard as she can. No wonder Charlie didn't want to come here. "Listen dipshit, I've got something _sensitive_ for Russell and I can either leave it here on your overpriced desk where it might burp an acid fire ring right into the tabletop or I can deliver it personally so that no _unfortunate_ accidents happen to you."

"Is that a threat?" The secretary demanded frowning and resting his hand on the phone getting ready to call security.

Santana crinkles her nose before quickly realizing that there was a good chance that he was a regular person who had no idea of all the _weirdness_ around him. A few months ago, _that_ was her, now she probably sounded like a crazy person. She bites the inside of her cheek hard before forcing a smile on her lips, "I work for Charlie _Fabray_. You know Russell's son, so if you want to be the idiot that explains to him why his package was turned away then go ahead and be my guest."

The man frowned, but pressed a couple buttons on the phone and picked up the receiver. "Mr. Smythe? A woman is here claiming to have a package from Mr. Fabray's son."

 _'_ _Send her back Kurt.'_ Santana could hear the instruction as much as she could see the frustration written on the asshole's face.

"Yes, sir."

Santana smiled smugly, ignoring the man's glare as he stood and took her back to one of the fancy corner offices. "Try not to steal anything." He sneered, pointing the way to Russell's personal assistant.

Santana twitched, she could definitely see why Charlie wanted nothing to do with this place. He probably found the place stuffy and boring, and they probably thought he was weird. Charlie _was_ weird even by magician standards according to Mike and Rachel, and she was a bit curious to see if that was genetic. She sighed when she noticed another desk outside of an office and sighed, at least she knew her ticket inside without to much hassle. She forces a smile onto her face and heads toward the next desk.

"Put whatever you've got over there." Russell's assistant didn't bother looking up from behind his stacks of paperwork.

Santana frowns. She already thinks Russell's a bit of an asshole if these are the people he surrounds himself with. "I was given explicit instructions to give this to Mr. Fabray by his son, and he's expecting me so—"

The man's head snapped up, he would recognize that voice _anywhere_. "Santana?"

Santana froze in place. No. It couldn't be. "What the fuck are you doing here?" She asked before she could stop herself."

He seemed to be just as shocked as she was, but he smirked at her question. "I'm _working_. I've already been here longer than Mr. Fabray's last three assistants combined." He studies her for a moment, "What happened to you? Rumor has it that your parents sent you to boarding school after _you know_."

" _You know_ happens to be almost seven and I haven't talked to my parents since they kicked me out." Santana frowns. She had hoped to never see Sebastian again. Even after eight years it was too soon.

"You _had it_?" Sebastian gapes. Santana's parents had been close friends with his own parents and were ridiculously conservative. He hadn't ever mentioned it to his own parents but whispers of Santana's disappearance still were the talk of their small hometown. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I got to the point where I couldn't exactly hide it anymore. Once I told them, there wasn't really any going back."

"I don't know why you told them I gave you the money to take care of it didn't I?"

"Maybe I didn't want to 'take care of it'?" Santana blows out her breath and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Look, can I just talk to Russell? I have something for him. Then we can pretend like we never saw each other."

Sebastian stares at her, he didn't even know what to make of this information. "I didn't agree to be a father—"

"Good because I never asked you to be one," Santana sneers at him defensively. One day Antonio might want to meet his father, he had asked but he had the attention span of a gnat and he at least understood that she was a single parent. Now that he had his dragon and seemed to worship the ground Charlie walked on, which she was going to have to do something about, he didn't particularly seem interested in the question of paternity. "It's your loss, he's a good kid."

Sebastian frowns at this and doesn't say anything right away, "I told you to get rid of it remember—we could have made something of our lives together." He studied her carefully, the Santana he knew would never have been caught dead in something so _cheap_. "Look, if you're hard up for cash, I can give you money. A one-time thing, of course. I don't want you and your child living on the streets—"

And just like that Santana remembers exactly why she was so glad that Antonio never had to meet his father. "Actually, I make a lot of money working for Russell's son. We're fine. Better than fine, actually."

"Of course you are." Sebastian placates, not believing it for a second. He grimaces a little at the thought of Santana and _their_ child in his life. It would be a nightmare. He glanced upward, hoping for a burst of inspiration at how he could tactfully keep them as far away from him as possible. "I could see if the office cleaner is hiring?" He offers hopefully. Maybe that would be enough involvement to last him through the child's lifetime. "I know that they pay more than minimum wage and I can put in a good word for you since Mr. Fabray is such an important figure in the financial industry and _I'm_ his assistant."

Santana narrowed her eyes. It was petty, but she had enough of being talked down to. She knew for a fact that Sebastian was a mundane, that his family didn't have an ounce of magic in them. He wasn't Russell's _actual_ assistant, just some human lackey to do the paperwork. "I'm _Charlie's_ assistant and I can guarantee that I make more than you."

"Charlie?" Sebastian scoffed, it wasn't if the Fabray's were known for their generosity. "What type of self-respecting adult man calls himself _Charlie_?"

"My son, unfortunately." Russell interrupts coldly glaring at his receptionist. This mundane wasn't as bad as most of them, but he had a high opinion of himself and a poor work ethic. "His mother doted on him far too much, and he was a fat baby. It stuck." He turns to Santana studying her for a moment, his son was in the habit of picking out attractive people to work for him and this was no exception. "You have a package for me?"

"Yes sir," Santana explained holding it out for him.

Russell studied the box for a moment before turning around and motioning Santana inside. "Come in. Sebastian, cancel whatever appointments I have for the rest of the day. Also, put Santana on the list of people who will be flagged through to see me whenever she arrives."

"Sir?" Sebastian's eyes widened at this looking back at Santana who didn't even give him a look.

Russell ignores Sebastian completely and focuses on Santana with a warm friendly smile. "So Santana, tell me. Is my son still—"

Santana waits for him to finish his statement but when he doesn't she shrugs, "Weird? Yes."

Russell snorted, "I was going to say, still stuck in his own head? But I suppose that will suffice." He sighs heavily. "Well, his mother will be disappointed then. You have no idea how many matches that I've tried to make him."

"I can only imagine." Santana chuckles.

Russell studies Santana for a moment, "I'm surprised he managed to get someone else from the academy, he's gone through so many. I've had my own assistant since I graduated. Of course that was before the damn union decided to go after hard-working—"

"I'm not from the union." Santana interrupts, gesturing her head toward Sebastian who was still listening with dumbstruck horror.

"Sam, order us in some lunch." Russell dismisses him with finality, gently leading Santana inside his spacious office and shutting the door firmly behind them. He raises his hand creating a quick dome of silence around them before turning to look at her. "You aren't part of the union?"

"Uh, no. I didn't go to any academy, I was just like Sebastian until I saw his advertisement in the paper and his help wanted sign in the doorway—I'm being trained by Mike and Rachel though."

"I would hardly call that training." Russell rolls his eyes. Mike and Rachel both had been adequate assistants but both of them had been easily distracted by his daughters. It still set him on edge to think of either of his daughters as married women and it was no secret that he didn't approve. Mike was practically a mundane and Rachel was merely a failed magician. He frowns, Santana would have to be fairly gifted to have seen Charlie's advertisements. It was something that he'd look into at the very least. And with Charlie he was sure that he couldn't be picky. "What you need is someone who can focus on you full time."

"Rachel and Mike seem to think—"

"Rachel and Mike can barely string together a coherent spell." Russell nods along with himself. It's a brilliant idea. He quickly sends a message off to Terri and has an almost instantaneous reply. "There. Terri will be at Charlie's shop tomorrow. I think we can have you exactly where you need to be to make sure my son doesn't blow himself up."

"I knew it." Santana muttered under her breath. "He told me he hadn't blown himself up in ages—he does that?"

"It wouldn't be the first time." Russell shrugs. He gestures for Santana to take a seat. "If you're going to be my son's assistant, you're going to have to be the very best."

"Thanks for the offer, but I really don't want to inconvenience you—"

"Nonsense." Russell waves away the concern. "I barely practice magic anymore and Terri is always itching for a new challenge." He had grown busy with the day to day operations of managing the financial aspects for their world and while it had made them a small fortune it didn't give him a lot of time to practice magic.

"My son's the same way." Santana admits, offering a small tidbit of personal information to gauge Russell appropriately. It was a skill that she had always chalked up to her Mexican third eye, but only recently had learned was an ability to read people better than most. She could sense when someone was bullshitting her and if she was going to interact with Charlie's family on a daily basis, she needed to know what she was up against.

"You don't look old enough to have a son."

"Maybe you should take a look in the mirror." Santana retorts quickly. Russell wasn't anything like the mean old miser she had been expecting and she would have guessed he was only about a decade older than Charlie.

"Point taken." He smiles widely. "But _I_ have a healer as a wife who supplies her famous cure-all balm on her poor pathetic husband."

"Is that the purple goop? Charlie gave me some when Antonio was feeling sick."

Russell arched his brow but didn't comment. For Charlie to make such a step, maybe his son _wasn't_ as 'special' as he had always assumed. Well _that_ would certainly be a welcome surprise. But rather than making Charlie's new assistant feel uncomfortable, he jumped on the next natural question. "Antonio? Is that your son?"

Santana nods, feeling a weight off her shoulders at the gentle acceptance from someone she barely knew. Charlie might not like the snooty office staff and the extravagant building, but it definitely wasn't as bad as it could have been. She was used to having to defend herself and her teenaged decisions. This was a welcome surprise. "Yes, he's six. Charlie summoned him a dragon and now Tony is convinced he's going to be a great magician."

"A dragon is a good pet for a boy." Russell tries to fight a smirk. He had been trying to set Charlie up for _years_ and couldn't even get his boy to summon a rose for his date. A _dragon_? Maybe Charlie wasn't hopeless after all. "One of the worst pets we ever got was a griffin that still terrorizes poor Charlie to this day."

"Lord Tubbington?" Santana fights a shiver at the memory of a nearly dead Charlie bleeding out in front of her. "Charlie's mentioned it."

"The griffin has held a grudge ever since Charlie stepped on it's tail. Charlie has refused to apologize and now twenty years later they are still trying to kill one another." Russell admits fondly. Charlie clearly had been in the wrong but at some point their feud had become ridiculous. He watches Santana, wondering whether she knows about the strength of bloodlines and magical abilities if she had grown up as a mundane. "But that's one of the trials of raising a young precocious magician. I'm sure you'll get to experience that."

"What?"

Apparently she had no idea. "If you have an inclination toward magic, I would expect your son might have some abilities as well. It's entirely possible that with the right schooling he could become a great magician."

"It is?" Santana frowns. She had only been joking. With a new world of magic opened to her, all she saw were the new dangers now available. She hadn't even considered that Antonio might get sucked into this world too. It was bad enough he had a _dragon_ maybe she needed to re-think this.

Russell nods. "I'm sure if you have any questions my son will be happy to help—" Russell stops himself when he remembers just who he is talking about, "—or at the very least he will be happy to tell you who to talk to to _get_ help. Just remember, my door is always open."

"Thank you, Mr. Fabray."

"Please, call me Russell." He grinned. "And maybe you can put in a good word with my son so that he might come and drop off these packages in person."

"What is it?" Santana asked, feeling a little nosy. "He told me to drop it off and leave as soon as possible."

"Aged dwarven ale." Russell fingers the box gently. "It's rare and Charlie is one of the only suppliers in the city. Amusing because he is distrustful of small people but unfortunately that means I have to put up with his ridiculous shop and parlor tricks while he tries to blow up his building."

"Has he ever succeeded?" Santana asked skeptically. She was living in that building. The last thing she needed was some rogue spell to destroy everything.

"As long as you stay a few feet away when he's trying a new spell, I'm sure you'll be fine." Russell was quick to assure. "And don't be an idiot. Most of Charlie's mishaps come when he is distracted." It hadn't happened in a few years, but it was still something to be wary of. "It's actually the most common mistake, a dropped syllable could be _bad_."

Santana smirks. She could just picture Charlie sitting in the back corner of his father's office, trying to summon some weird-ass object only to start a small fire. She could totally see it. Leaning back in her chair, she smirks. "So tell me some stories about Charlie—I'm going to need blackmail material for when he gets out of line."

"I'm not sure that will work. Charlie's sisters have long believed that boy has no shame. I don't think he has any shame either to be frank." Russell chuckles but is ready to comply.

"Try me."


	10. Chapter 10

Santana sighed, she had stayed far too long in Russell's office. She had no idea why Rachel and Mike didn't like him. The food had been good and watching Sebastian and that other one Kurt give her looks of utter disdain and jealousy—it had made it worth it. She wasn't quite sure _what_ she was going to do with the fact that Sebastian was now in the periphery of her life. It had been _one_ stupid, drunken mistake with someone who had been her best friend. But the moment that she had gotten pregnant Sebastian had simply bailed. She had been the one who had her family disown her, she had been the one to get a GED instead of finishing high school.

Being Charlie's assistant, being a _magician_ assistant had not been her goal in life. She had wanted to do something important, life-changing. To be a doctor, or some high-paid lawyer working on cases that could take her all the way to the supreme court. Maybe she could have ended up in a position like Russell's ruling the financial world with an iron fist.

All of her dreams had seemed out of reach when she had found out that she was pregnant. She couldn't—she hadn't been able to simply get rid of it, like it was just some inconvenience to her like Sebastian had wanted. So she had told her parents, she had truly expected her parents to rally around her to tell her that it was okay and that she could still do everything she wanted and they'd help her. But they hadn't, they had wanted her to give the baby up for adoption and to keep this as quiet as possible. She had thought about it, until she had held Antonio for the first time, and she knew that she could never give him up. That decision had cost her everything. Her parents had made it clear that it was _their_ rules or she could leave _their_ house. She had chosen to leave.

It hadn't been easy, in fact it had been a real struggle especially in the earlier years when she didn't have the whole budget thing figured out. So maybe being Charlie's assistant wasn't the worst possible job in the world, she wasn't paying anything for rent, she had more money for food and clothes and saving. She was saving everything she could and maybe she'd start making investments soon. She wanted to have a safety net in case Charlie accidentally killed himself doing something incredibly stupid. It was more than likely that Charlie ended up doing that so it was really important that she had a strong safety net.

Santana sighs and looks at the shop door, she had no idea how her life had taken a turn for the weird and the downright strange. She was _learning_ as quickly as she could to fit in this new world, but she wasn't sure if she even truly belonged in it. But, unlike the mundanes, she hadn't been looked down upon. Maybe the weird and strange wasn't _that_ bad. Though, she wouldn't hesitate to admit that she _hated_ Antonio's dragon, with it's creepy pupil-less red eyes. Her son had no idea how creepy his pet was, and the beast had taken to watching her when Antonio was distracted, especially when she was cooking.

She really needed to talk to someone about training the damn thing. Antonio clearly had no idea what he was doing feeding it dragon treats whenever he thought it did something cool. Not to mention the fact that he 'shared' his vegetables with it when she was looking. She was definitely going to talk to Brittany when they went to go to her zoo about how to train the damn thing. She pushes open the front door to the store hearing the familiar chime. She takes a step forward and nearly trips over Antonio's backpack. " _Antonio—_ "

"That's _awesome!_ Are you using magic? Can I do that?" Antonio's excited voice came from Charlie's work room.

It was enough to make her heart stop and she quickly moved to the back, she wasn't comfortable with Antonio's hero worship of Charlie. She also wasn't comfortable when he went into the backroom without her. She grabs Antonio's bag and immediately heads to the back room. "Antonio, what have I said about going back there—"

"I don't see how this game is interesting, it's very unrealistic," Charlie comments off-handedly. "Board games, I understand the pun now," he comments offhandedly glancing up at the mirror that's behind Antonio. "D3. I suppose I could make this far more interesting—an animation spell, small explosions—"

"No." Santana interrupts before Charlie can convince himself to do something dangerous.

Charlie glances at Santana surprise on his features. "You're back."

"I am," Santana frowns at him and moves to Antonio to make sure that he was okay. "Why do you sound surprised?"

"Because, Mike convinced me that my father was going to throw you out the window. I of course didn't think it was true, and Rachel suggested that he might turn you into something. I _know_ that's not true, my father hasn't done a spell in years. I doubt he remembers how to. I was wondering if he tried to recruit you. My family has this weird obsession with my assistants." Charlie turns his attention back to Antonio. "Did I sink your battleship?" He asks dryly.

Antonio nods, his eyes wide with unabashed awe. "How do you _do_ that?"

Charlie smirks but holds his finger to his lips. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

"You _said_ you wouldn't use magic." Antonio retorts.

"I'm not."

Antonio huffs and looks at his mom and smiles at her, "Hi mom! We're playing battleship!"

"I can see that," Santana responds rubbing his back. Her son was so easily amused that she was slightly worried about him. "Your father didn't offer me a job, no he basically told me that I should use his assistant full time."

"E5," Antonio calls out as Charlie's head turns back to Santana.

"For what?" Charlie furrows his brow. Assistants don't really need to work with other assistants, that's what magicians are for. He glances back at Antonio. "Miss."

"To help prepare me for the exam?" Santana answers slowly. "He's not really fond of Mike and Rachel—"

"My father and I don't agree on _much_ but we _both_ never approved of those unions. Traitors, I suppose you couldn't go wrong with Terri. She's smart enough." Charlie frowns at this and looks up at the mirror. "Are you sure you want me to destroy your big ship now? I can think of a million more interesting games to play. I think I have a game where the chess pieces are 'alive' and they kill each other on the chessboard."

"Cool." Antonio grins, "But after we finish this game."

"D5." Charlie calls and Antonio gasps appropriately stunned.

"You're amazing."

"He's a _cheater_." Santana rolls her eyes and gestures behind Antonio. "He's catching the reflection of your pieces in the mirror."

"That's hardly cheating, He's the one who decided to sit in front of a mirror," Charlie responds waving his hand away. Luck wasn't a skill, it was just calling out a series of numbers and letters until he hit something.

Antonio scrunched up his face after noticing the mirror and crossed his arms over his chest. "I win, you _cheated_."

Charlie studies the boy for a moment before shrugging. "Okay you win. But you really shouldn't sit in front of mirrors." Charlie eyed Santana carefully for a moment. She had been less angry about potential explosions than she usually was. He frowns and pulls out a notebook that Rachel had given him and flips through it. "You look upset so—" Charlie squints at the page for a moment before looking at Santana. "Are you alright?"

"You're teaching my six year old to be a cheater so _no_ I'm not alright." Santana snaps even though she knows it's not the real reason but it's reason enough.

Charlie nods and glances back at the card again, pulling it a little closer to his face. "You're still angry, so—Oh. I apologize for being insensitive."

"Are those _cue_ cards?"

"Yes. Sometimes I need a little help being sensitive to other people's feelings. At least Rachel says so, apparently telling the truth isn't always the right answer, and I want you to feel—" Charlie flips through the book till he finds something that sounds right. "Satisfied working for me, so you don't look for other employment."

Santana stared at him, Russell had said that Charlie was stuck in his own head multiple times, but she had seen him show care in his own way. "Don't do that, it's _weird_." Santana snatches the cards from his hands. There is only so much weird she can take from Charlie and pre-prepared apologies take the cake.

Charlie shrugged, "Rachel says I have this ability to stick my foot in my mouth, I'm not that flexible so I don't quite see how that's possible—" he looks up when Santana snorts at this statement. "She said I need those cue cards—"

"Look, I'm sure Rachel means well but this is _weird_ , and like you said people who smile when they're not happy is weird to you. You saying pre-approved apologies when you don't mean well that's even weirder. I'm sure you're going to do plenty of things that anger me, like teaching my son how to cheat or thinking at any time that explosions near my _six year old_ are appropriate. Do you understand."

Antonio nudges Charlie's knee when he doesn't answer right away, he knew how to make his mom stop being mad. "Just say _yes_."

Charlie flicks his eyes to Antonio for a moment, before nodding. "Yes," he repeats still studying Santana who rolls her eyes and tosses his cue cards back at him.

~O~

Brittany sighed as she looked at her phone before placing it back down, "What a surprise, he didn't show up _again_." It was always like this. Every single time they planned something, they would get Charlie to promise he would show up only to have them wait around like idiots. He didn't even apologize. Really, they should have expected it.

"Are we forgetting who we're talking about? It's Charlie. He's probably terrorizing his new assistant, or doing something that he thinks is amazing," Quinn responds rolling her eyes. "You know we only invite him because mom says we have to."

Rachel slaps her wife's shoulder gently. "Be nice. If it weren't for him, I never would have met _you_."

"If he were _here_ and could avoid acting like some freak who has been locked in his bedroom his whole life, I would be even nicer." Quinn retorts.

"Well, in Charlie's defense he thinks you're as smart as a goldfish, a very unimportant goldfish." Brittany hums in response watching as Quinn turned a deep red. "But he's nice about it Quinn. He thinks you're a smarter goldfish then everyone else."

Quinn scowled, by anyone else's standards she was a brilliant magician, but compared to Brittany and Charlie she was the idiot in the room. "He should say that to my face," she mutters under her breath. "Can't you— _fix_ him."

"You know I can't read his mind," Brittany responds. "I read minds and it's not so much fixing people as having general empathy. I mean, I guess I can talk to babies, since I can tell when it's hungry or bored, but—"

"Yeah, yeah. You're an empath. I get it."

"Don't be so annoyed." Brittany shudders as her little sister's emotions wash over her. "Tonight is supposed to be _fun_."

"Well, he's supposed to be here," Quinn shakes her head. "You know mom's going to be disappointed and somehow insist that we aren't being inclusive when he's the one who never shows up. I don't even know what he's doing, he's absolutely useless without an assistant."

"He has a crush on Santana," Mike says speaking up for the first time and causing Quinn and Brittany's head to whip towards him. "Well, that's not true, he's curious about Santana he's been more _present_ lately if you know what I mean. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I think he likes her."

"You realize this is _Charlie_ you're talking about." Quinn dismisses.

"No, I absolutely agree." Rachel insists emphatically. "I even made him helpful cards to assist him with interpersonal interactions and he _actually took them._ "

"I don't believe it." Brittany shook her head. She knew Mike couldn't lie to her, but that didn't mean Charlie actually had feelings like a normal person.

"He gave Santana some of your mother's secret remedy," Mike adds. "Without me telling him to, or offering it. He just came out and handed it to her, I mean that's got to mean something right?"

"You were there when she got attacked by the boggart, did you get anything from him then?" Rachel presses Brittany.

"For the last time, I can't read Charlie. His element more than others causes a feedback and it's like white noise. It's actually pretty comforting when I'm being overwhelmed," Brittany reminds her.

"I always thought that you couldn't read him because there was nothing to read," Quinn shrugs when Rachel smacks her arm. "What, you asked the question a million times, you know how he is."

"Well, how he is _now_ is he went to pick up Antonio on time from the bus stop when Santana was going to be late. I mean I'm not completely sure he understands that Antonio is a child and not a hairless dwarf, but still he did something helpful for Santana."

"That means nothing. In fact, it almost makes sense." Quinn shakes her head. "Charlie's found a friend in a six year old. I don't know why any of us are surprised."

"True." Brittany agrees. If Charlie was going to make a friend it would probably be a child. His last age-appropriate friend hadn't turned out well for her brother.

"I'm telling you, Charlie likes her." Mike disagrees. "I have never seen him try harder _not_ to be an asshole than he does with Santana."

"Charlie doesn't think he's an asshole, if you ask him he thinks he's a nice kind individual, who just doesn't have time for the mundane," Rachel reminds them. "He may be a genius but he scores very low on the emotional intelligence side. Even if he _does_ like her, he probably doesn't know that he likes her."

Brittany mulls over the suggestion, "Well, I say we leave it alone and just watch from afar. He's _bound_ to make a mess of this and it's probably going to be the funniest thing that we've ever seen. Even with a kid Santana is _way_ out of his league."

"I second that plan," Quinn smirks, it'll serve Charlie right for constantly insulting her.


	11. Chapter 11

Terri bit her lip as she tried to come up with another question to test Santana. It had been two weeks of rigorous training and she had been trying to stump her for the last hour. Russell had been right to call her in, the prior training Santana had was dismal at best. But Santana had worked hard to soak up the information each day. "Next question, your magician is looking for an Estonian book on spells because he believes an infant has been put under a never-before-seen curse. Which one do you grab?"

Santana frowns and walks over to the defensive magic section of Charlie's library and goes to grab one of the books. Thankfully, Terri hadn't insisted she actually _learn_ old Estonian, but they had been practicing differentiating foreign languages on sight. She hesitates torn between the original blue book she had wanted to select and the one next to it that was slightly smaller with a green binding.

"Time's up. Congratulations, you've killed the child." Terri declares coldly. "Make a decision."

Santana cringes but snatches her first choice. She _hates_ it when Terri does that because it doesn't do anything to help her nerves. "This one." She concludes with an air of confidence she doesn't feel.

"Are you sure?"

No. She's not. But second-guessing herself never gets her anywhere. "Yes."

"Good. The baby's still dead, but you managed to stop the curse which is also a plague from killing anyone else."

"Yay." Santana notes without enthusiasm. They've been at it for hours and she's _exhausted_. Terri pauses and opens her mouth to ask another question only to be interrupted by the shrill ring of her cell phone. Santana frowns but goes to answer it right away, she normally has it on 'Do Not Disturb' and the only exception is Antonio's school. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Lopez, this is Mrs. Fields, the principal of Line elementary, I'm calling about your son Antonio Lopez."

"Is he alright? Has there been accident?" Santana gripped the counter tightly feeling her heart beginning to pick up speed as the panic set in.

"No, he's fine. I'm calling you to come in there has been an incident, your son has been suspended for fighting with a girl in school. We'd like you to come in for a meeting and then pick him up."

"Antonio would _never_ —"

"Mrs. Lopez, that's why we asked for the meeting. I've called the girl's parents and they'll be there soon."

"Right, I'll be right there." Santana said hanging up and immediately turning to Terri. "I've got to go."

Terri frowns but doesn't say anything as Santana snatches her keys and speeds out of the shop. She's been focused and attentive for each of their trainings and they had agreed that Santana would only leave if her child needed her. Deciding she had better things to do than wait around for Santana to return, Terri frowned and went in search of Charlie. She pulls the curtain back quietly only to see Charlie hard at work inscribing something into an ugly pair of glasses.

"How is she doing?" Charlie asks without looking up. This needed to be perfect if it was going to work.

Terri studied him for a moment, he was nothing like his father, _or_ his mother for that matter. She had changed his diapers, and he had always been a bit _odd_. "For someone who has been a mundane her entire life, she has a knack for picking things up. She needs to work on her confidence and more importantly I need to spend about a day making sure she understands what her role is. Assistants these days don't actually understand, I got married to a magician—"

"You were married?"

Terri scowled and resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. "Yes Charlie, William? He was one of your professors. We're divorced now, he decided to go for that _ginger_ bitch—."

"You were trying to make a point," Charlie interrupts already bored with how this conversation was going.

"The point is, I never decided to leave your father. What they don't understand is that it looks just as bad on them as it does on you. Whatever happened to loyalty?"

"That's what I want to know," Charlie mutters and shakes his head. He needed to focus if he was going to get these right. Creating new magic was always a pain and he wanted this to work the first time around.

"What are you working on?" Terri asks crinkling her nose, "By the way I ordered a new pair of glasses for you, though I have no idea why you haven't asked your mom to fix your eyes yet."

"Because I'll still be pouring over all these books with tiny text on a day to day basis, because I have never had a decent assistant," Charlie responds. "As for what I'm doing, both Mike and Rachel insist that once she passes her exam I give her something. A gift of appreciation."

"That is customary." Terri nods and looks again at the glasses in his hand. "However I don't know why you're giving her an _ugly_ pair of glasses that she'll never wear."

"Who cares if they're ugly? They are _functional_." Charlie grumbles. He was inventing some serious magic here and Terri should be able to see how valuable that was.

"Well as a woman, she probably cares—I still don't know why you're giving her magic glasses."

"Santana has a strong second-sight, however I don't think she knows how to control it, these glasses will give her the ability to control her gift if she ever wants to. Plus, I'm adding a few things that she probably needs as well." Charlie adds grinning pleased with himself. He was a genius, someone needed to pat him on his back.

" _Fine_ , you have a good reason but I'm still insisting that you're going to need to get her something fashionable, not—whatever that is. I'll pick some up for you."

Charlie sighed, " _Fine_ , I'll probably just use these for my prototype." He pulls the glasses up and holds them so he can inspect his work. "How long will it take you to make sure she has top marks? You mentioned confidence, she needs to have it."

"The more comfortable she feels with the material the more confident she'll feel, however we can't know for certain until she gets it under her feet. You could have easily have taught her what she needed to know. You could pass the assistant's exam in your sleep." Terri points out.

"I don't have the patience for teaching someone who is illiterate, why do you think I've started to expose her son to magic so early? Yes he's easily amused but even though his father is a _mundane_ I imagine he'll still have some decent magical affinity later on. Santana's abilities are that strong." Charlie frowns and runs his fingers along the runes.

"He's _six_ , and as you said his father is a mundane he probably won't start showing abilities till puberty. Not everyone has Fabray blood in them." Terri rolls her eyes when Charlie merely grunts at her. "I was certain you _liked_ pending time around him." Charlie doesn't answer again and Terri sighs, deciding to lay some truth on him. "Just so you know, I doubt your interest in Santana is purely magical."

"She's going to be my assistant, of course it isn't." Charlie sighs and rubs his eyes.

"That's not what I meant," Terri shakes her head deciding to leave Charlie alone for now. She had known him since he was in diapers. He had always been a strange kid and his parents had worried about him. He didn't make friends easily, and he spent most of his time reading magical books, not caring about the people around him. This behavior was out of Charlie's norm, he had never shown an interest in people in general. The women that his parents tried to force on him were far too boring to mundane for him, despite the fact that they had all come from powerful families. She wasn't sure if Charlie's interest in Santana would wane but until that time, it was something to report back to Russell.

~O~

Santana glanced back at her son who was lagging behind her, his head down as if he hoped that it would save him from her disappointment. She had immediately defended her son, he had only been defending himself but that didn't mean she wasn't disappointed. She had just never yelled at her son in anger and even though she was angry, she didn't even know where to begin to start unravelling this mess.

Antonio kicks a rock and doesn't look up despite feeling his mom's eyes on him. It wasn't his fault. School was dumb anyway, they didn't know anything about dragons or magic and she had started it. "Sorry," he mumbles.

"Are you actually sorry Antonio? Or is it that you just don't want me to punish you?" Santana asks, shaking her head.

Antonio glances around guiltily, "Both?"

" _Tony_."

"She pushed me first! I just pushed her back cause she was being mean! She's been making fun of me and she thinks I'm weird." Tony grumbles.

"You were talking about magic and _dragons_." Santana reasons.

"Yeah because dragons are _cool_."

Santana shakes her head, not willing to argue this point. But she refuses to let her son be some social outcast because she fell into this ridiculous world of magic. "But just because she thinks they're weird doesn't give you license to push her."

"She pushed me _first_!" Antonio insists. He had just been the one they caught. "And dragons and magic _are_ real. Mr. Charlie is a magician!"

"Mr. Charlie wouldn't want you fighting." Santana's not above using Antonio's new hero to get her point across. If she has to bash Charlie's head in to get him to agree, then so be it. She opened the door to the store and watched as Antonio walked inside.

Antonio frowned at that, "Are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who?" Charlie asked, leaning over the counter curiously. He had been looking for his notepad and a pen. He could never find one whenever he needed one. Charlie paused and looked at Antonio and then Santana. "He's back early."

Santana sighed, it wasn't something that she could hide. Charlie did have a general understanding of time, and in a few minutes he'd probably insist on going to one of the many restaurants around the shop. "Antonio got suspended."

" _Mom_!" Antonio whined shifting so he could hide himself from any more disappointed gazes.

Charlie nodded at this statement. "Okay."

Santana twitched, of course he would brush it off like it was nothing. He had probably gotten suspended hundreds of times from his weird magical school and no one had really cared. "Charlie. Where is your notebook?" Charlie turned to her and she nods towards Antonio and then frowns at him. This wasn't some joke to her. Antonio's education was important and so was his behavior.

Charlie flicked his eyes to Antonio and then Santana and sighed closing a drawer, he had been working on creating an anchoring ward for one of his projects but it seemed that was going to have to wait because apparently this was important to Santana and it required some of his attention. "Why did the dwarf get suspended?"

"He got into a scuffle at school and shoved a girl to the ground. He was suspended for three days and I told him that you didn't want him fighting. Right Charlie?"

Antonio huffed at this, "She started it! She pushed me and she said that magic wasn't real and that you were a fake! And she made me mad!"

Charlie stared at Santana and Antonio for a moment, he had gotten into a billion fights with Quinn when he was Antonio's age. No one had cared. Quinn liked freezing his pants and he had amused himself with turning Quinn into a giant ball of fluff every time he could. But judging from Santana's expression he was supposed to tell Antonio that was wrong. "Did it make you feel good when you pushed her?"

"Huh?" Antonio asked confusion spreading on his face.

"Did pushing this girl make you feel good after you did it?" Charlie repeats the question slowly resting his head on his hands as he leans on the counter looking at Antonio who immediately shakes his head.

"No, I didn't mean to hurt her—but she was saying that you were a fake and that magic wasn't real." Antonio insists.

"I see so you reacted?" Charlie asks and Antonio nods. "Well, what if I reacted every time I got angry at someone?"

"You'd hurt them really badly," Antonio mumbles.

"I have hurt someone badly before it's not a good feeling Antonio." Antonio nods hanging onto Charlie's every word. "Which is why violence is _never_ the answer, it doesn't matter if she doesn't believe you Antonio. She's a mundane, she's not part of the _secret_ club of magic. She'll never get to see a dragon or a unicorn, but you Antonio, you do get to see all this stuff. And with that privilege comes a huge responsibility."

Santana watches the explanation with interest. She had expected Charlie to disappoint her and rattle off something about how fighting was good for boys and instead had Antonio's attention better than anyone she had ever seen. That may not mean much, since Antonio didn't really take to other adults but it was almost enough to make her overlook some of Charlie's weirder qualities.

Antonio nods, "I'm sorry," he mumbles.

Charlie shrugs, "You didn't hurt me Antonio. Just remember you can't go around solving problems with violence. It generally makes things worse. Case in point your suspension. Now your mother is probably going to make you muck out the griffin pens or something."

Santana rolled her eyes, and he just had to ruin the moment with something weird. She sighs when Antonio looks at her, and she crinkles her nose. It probably sounded like a lot of fun to him but she wasn't going to do it. "No, he's not going to muck out a griffin pen. I have no intention of what happened to you happening to my son. However this suspension isn't going to be a break for you. You're not allowed to watch television or play any games, and you're going to spend all your time doing homework and making sure you don't fall behind."

" _But_ —"

"Antonio." Santana arched a brow and he immediately fell silent and huffed. "I'm going to make you some lunch and then you're going to sit here and do your homework while I learn. You aren't allowed to disturb Charlie either when you get bored."

Antonio huffed and stomped to his little corner where they had set up a small table for him and dumped his books onto it. It wasn't _fair_. He was going to be so bored.

"Speaking of lunch—" Charlie's stomach growled and he looked at Santana carefully. "Time for food, I'm going to go find some."

Santana nods and eyes Antonio for a moment as Charlie makes his way to the doorway, she touches his arm before he leaves. "Thanks for that, and I'm sorry to drag you into it, but Antonio looks up to you."

"He's a dwarf he looks up to everyone," Charlie responds with a shrug.

Santana rolls her eyes and is about to let him go when something he said causes her to pause, "Did you really hurt someone badly once?"

"Yes," Charlie answers truthfully with another easy shrug. "But, I lied to him. I don't feel bad about that all."

She's stunned and feels her jaw drop a little as a reflex. Of everything she expected, _that_ was not it. What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?

Charlie shrugs it off and nods once before turning on his heel and walking out the door to get some food. This whole lying business made him hungry.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: As some of you are aware, I do have a . . and if you want to donate to it, that's great, but if you don't have the money, that's also fine, if you still want to support me. Reviewing helps loads. So if you could take your time to review that would be great.**

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Santana frowned as she stared at the different wards that Terri was testing her on, this was much harder than anything else she had needed to do. A single line could mean the difference between life and death for a wizard. "Not that I'm not grateful for all the help that you've been giving me but I thought I'd be ready to write my exam by now. I don't know why you're adding a few more weeks of training, I thought I was doing rather well."

"You would pass, and that isn't a protection ward, it's a barrier ward—" Terri rolled her eyes and moved onto another picture of a ward. " _That_ is a protection ward."

"Oh." Santana turned her head to the side. There was a difference, it was slight but she could see it.

Terri smirks, other training assistants wouldn't be able to come close to differentiating wards after just a few weeks. "If you were going to be the assistant of any regular magician, I'd totally agree that you are more than ready. But you're about to start working with a _Fabray_ and not just any Fabray but arguably the best in the family. You will pass the exam, but you need to be a top assistant in order to put up with Charlie."

"Managing Charlie isn't difficult, I mean yeah sometimes he misses the obvious and he acts like he doesn't care but—" Santana glances at Antonio who is reading a book with his dragon curled up on his stomach sleeping. "He surprises you sometimes. Antonio already wrote an apology note to the girl he pushed because Charlie talked to him." Santana turns back to Terri who is staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing—it's just I haven't seen Charlie this grounded and present in a long time is all, and I changed his diapers." Terri comments.

Santana crinkles her nose, she glances at her son once again but he's not paying attention and Charlie had left the store earlier this morning she drops her voice significantly. "Actually he said something that stood out to me yesterday, and I'm not sure if he was joking or not."

"What was that?" Terri asked. Charlie made comments all the time that people dismissed as him just joking. Most of the time he was serious.

"He said he got into a fight where he really hurt someone." Santana admits, watching Terri closely for a hint of deception.

"Oh."

"When he talked to Antonio he said he regretted it, but later he admitted that he didn't." Santana continues. She wasn't sure what she expected from Terri, but certainly more than a blank stone expression.

Terri weighs her options carefully, "I'm sure he was just talking about his job." It was the simplest explanation she could give.

Santana frowned, that would make sense if she actually knew what Charlie did. Brittany worked in a magical zoo, Quinn was in government whatever that meant and Charlie—well Charlie was just weird and spent a lot of time holed up in that damn hole in the wall. "I don't actually know what Charlie's job is—honestly I thought he runs a shop of well antiquities. Rachel and Mike keep referring to him as jack of all trades—but that's not actually a job. Charlie's never actually tells me what he does, he just says he's a magician."

Terri blinked, it was quite possible that Mike and Rachel were unsure of what Charlie actually did either. Then again it was also possible that Charlie himself didn't know how to say it. "Officially he's a consultant."

"And unofficially?" Santana pressed.

"He's the guy you hire when you need something done without a trace back to you."

"You mean he's a _mercenary_?" She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.

"Charlie and Quinn's discipline unfortunately has pure combat capabilities. While Quinn chose to stick closely with government law enforcement, Charlie was never one to follow traditional paths. It really makes the most sense when you think about it."

"Combat capabilities?" Santana blinks.

Terri put down the cards that she had been using, "You don't even know what Charlie's discipline is?"

"It's not exactly as though anyone has sat me down to explain any of this." Santana defends herself.

Terri rolls her eyes. It figures that Mike and Rachel hadn't even started off Santana's magical education with the basics. "I thought you had already covered that with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Loudmouth."

Santana picks up her pen, ready to start taking copious notes.

"There are several disciplines, and every _good_ magician has an area of emphasis where they excel. It may not correspond exactly to what they _practice_ , but there are six major disciplines: psychics like Brittany; illusionists; natural magicians who deal mostly in biology; healers like Judy; theoretical magicians like Russell; and physical magic like Charlie and Quinn. Though Charlie is gifted in theoretical magic."

"I thought all magic was physical?"

"Physical magic allows the practitioner to mold, modify, or utilize the surrounding elements. It's why physical magicians are so often called combat magicians." Terri explained, "I'm sure you've seen it. Lightning? Or felt it. A drop in the room temperature when Quinn gets annoyed?"

Santana thought back for a moment, he had used lightning against the boggart, "I've seen him shoot lightning from his hands before once."

"It used to be problematic when he was a child power outages all the time, but I imagine he's gotten it under control." Terri explains. "His discipline in its rawest form is combat magic. And a lot of his house calls, and the reason he takes so many trips is because he is doing things that require— _force_. Getting basilisk egg, is no easy feat let alone taking on a manticore. Sometimes there are problems that only pure combat magic can solve. Though if we're being honest, his heart and most of his attention goes to the theory of magic, he's exceptionally picky about the cases he takes that require his particular brand of brute force."

Santana nods, that made sense a manticore getting on the loose was bad for _everyone_ mundanes and magicians. Capturing beasts for Brittany's zoo also seemed to be something physical in nature. "So it's not like he gets deployed to take out villages or like some black ops mission that makes him dangerous right?"

Terri shrugged, "As far as I know Charlie doesn't have people who are out to get him like some lame comic book villain. No, he really does a bit of everything. He's probably gone to get some more dwarven beer for his father. If you want to know though, then _ask_ him. I'm not his assistant _you_ are."

"So you mean to tell me that you know _everything_ about Charlie's father?"

"Not now, but Russell hasn't practiced in years." Terri retorts almost defensively. What type of assistant did Santana take her for? She may not know every single aspect of Russell's life _now_ but that was mostly because all he did now was boring transactions where money changed hands. She took a deep breath, stifling her own annoyance. Santana was still new to this and she wasn't going to let that cloud her judgment. "He may not be practicing anymore, but I make sure to stay in the loop of his business ventures."

Santana frowned maybe she should pay a bit more attention to what Charlie was up too. He had made a point once that her ignorance of facts could lead to her being in danger or assuming she was in danger when she wasn't. Her frown deepens at the realization that Terri had completely side-stepped her original question. "But he _has_ hurt people before?"

"Not _people_ ," Terri corrects evasively. She's not sure there's a person alive who would criticize Charlie's actions, but she shouldn't be the person to tell Santana the story, " _One_ person. And again, you really should ask Charlie, because I don't know the facts. I'm not even sure Russell knows the facts."

Antonio shifts in the corner and it's enough to remind Santana that little ears may be listening. "So I've noticed Charlie drawing something similar to that, but his look different."

"That's probably because Charlie makes his own custom wards and he sells a few as well. The one's I'm showing you are the ones you learn in school but ward crafting is tricky, and the Fabray children used to—and by that I mean Charlie and Brittany used to break through them all the time whenever they wanted something. Their mother put wards on the snacks so they couldn't spoil their supper, which really only served to incentivize them to break through so they could get what they wanted. Quinn was always weak when it came to wards, don't know why." Terri shrugged. "She's probably as bad at them as you are."

Santana rolled her eyes of course Terri would think that, but it did please her to know that they weren't all perfect. "Charlie's terrible at transformation magic right?"

"Illusions as well, he can do simple ones but complex spells are not his strength. So when he gets the bright idea to transform himself into an animal?"

"I tell him that it's a bad idea?"

"See you're learning."

~O~

Santana sighed as she traced the ward again, trying to make sure that every line was perfect. She had never been one for art, and this was more difficult than she'd care to admit. But Terri was going to test her attempts tomorrow and she really didn't want anything blowing up in her face. She sighed and rubbed her eyes she'd get more done once she got Antonio to bed. He'd actually spent the whole day reading the book that Charlie had given and attempting to train his dragon to no real avail. She personally thought that the dragon was amused by Antonio's efforts and really just wanted the damn dragon snacks. Maybe when she passed this stupid exam, she'd give it a try. She had to be better at it than her son. She watches her son quietly as he sounds out the words to himself. He had never been a strong reader and he had hated reading by himself but with one book Charlie had changed all that. Of course now all he read was books about dragons and dwarves and elves, but it was a start.

"Mom?" Antonio asked finally giving up when Spot's tail smacks his hand causing him to rub it. She didn't like having her tail grabbed but sometimes it was the only way to get her attention. "Where's Mr. Charlie? I need more dragon treats."

Santana pauses for a moment as she glances around, he was right. Charlie had been gone all day, she hadn't even seen him in the morning. She frowns, Terri had left hours ago, which meant that she had been in the shop unsupervised for _hours_. And nothing had happened. Nothing had attacked her, nothing had blown up in her face. No boggart attacks, no strange creatures had appeared. Nothing _weird_ had happened. She glances back at the curtained off area that was Charlie's work space, usually there was noise or she could hear Charlie muttering about something or rather but it was all rather quiet. She's tempted to look, but if Charlie's idea of cleaning up was throwing a blanket over something she wasn't going to even begin to deal with the mess he kept his workshop. "I don't actually know."

Antonio frowned and stared at the black curtain for a long moment before turning to Spot. "Go get the dragon treats," he orders. He had no intention of heading to the back room without Mr. Charlie to make sure it was safe. Spot stared at him for a moment and then blew a ring of smoke at him before curling up on the ground. " _Come on_ you can do it."

Santana watched as Antonio's dragon ignored him and bit her lip trying not to snort in amusement. The dragon was growing on her, Charlie had clearly summoned a dragon with a bit of sass, and watching Antonio run around trying to appease it was both worrying and amusing at the same time. "We can just wait for Charlie to come back alright?"

Antonio puffs out his cheeks in disappointment. He had gone through all his dragon treats, though he was sure that Spot was getting into the container somehow. "What's taking him so long? He's always here. You're his assistant shouldn't you know where he is?"

Santana flicked her son's forehead, "Stop, you're reminding me of Terri and that's the last thing I need right now. You know he goes to weird places and he doesn't tell me anything. I don't know where he is right now. For all I know, he could be on the moon or you know—doing something completely normal. Like visiting his mother."

"That doesn't sound like fun," Antonio mutters under his breath.

Santana scowled at her son, "You mean to tell me that when you're an old man like Charlie is you'll never visit me again?"

"No?" Antonio flashed his mom a smile. "I'm never going to leave you alone."

"That doesn't fill me with confidence," Santana admits shaking her head as she begins to pack up her things. She wasn't sure if she'd be ready for Antonio to go off to university and only visit her on holidays. She wanted him to be independent, she didn't want him living with her when he was forty in some weird codependent way. She can't help but smile when Antonio flashes her his most charming smile, she sighs he was probably going to be a heartbreaker when he was older.

The bell above the door rang, and Santana turned to look at who had entered the store, but the smell hit her first and she gagged immediately covering her nose as she fought the urge to hurl. There standing at the door seemingly oblivious to the smell was Charlie who was covered in a blue mucus-like goop and seemingly oblivious to the fact that he smelled like he'd been attacked by an army of skunks as he read a folder "I'm certainly not going to take that job," Charlie muttered mostly to himself as he flipped the page.

"Mr. Charlie you _stink_!" Antonio informed him bluntly as he took a few steps back to try and get away from the stench. It was the plain honesty of a child and he watched as Spot turned to Charlie and hissed at him as she covered her nostrils as best as she could.

Charlie blinked twice and turned to the people in his shop, noting that they were all covering their noses. He lifts his arm and takes a whiff crinkling his nose and making a face. "Well, that certainly explains why I couldn't get a cab home. It also explains why everyone was giving me all those mean looks on the street before they moved to the opposite sidewalk. Interesting." He comments in a tone that suggests that it's hardly that interesting to him.

Santana grimaces as she dry-heaves again. Rot, he smells like rot and raw sewage. Her eyes water as she takes a step near him and she immediately gives up on that idea instead deciding to follow the example her son set and she takes a few steps away from him. "What the _hell_ did you do today and—no you know what? Strip out of those damn clothes and go scrub yourself until you don't smell like whatever it is that did _that to you_."

Charlie sighs and begins to unbutton his shirt as he continued to read his documents. "Fine, but I'll need these clothes by the end of the week—" He pulls off his shirt unphased by the fact that he's doing it in front of Santana and her child, let alone any passerby.

"No, the only place those clothes are going is in a black bag, where they will be promptly thrown out. I'd say that they'd need to be burned but I'm sure it'll smell worse than it already does." Santana insists, she knew that he said that it was part of her duties to make sure that his clothes were slime free but there had to be a line. There was no way that she was going to touch those clothes with a twenty-foot pole. Even that didn't seem like it was enough space. "And—what are you doing?" Santana demands as Charlie kicks off his shoes and begins to work on unbuttoning his pants. She was surprised, under all his baggy clothes and given all the food he ate he was actually in rather decent shape.

Charlie stares at Santana as if she's lost her mind. "Didn't you just tell me to strip out of my clothes?"

Santana stared at Charlie, "And you're just planning to strip in here? In front of my son and me? You don't see how that's _improper_?"

"Of course I wasn't going to get naked in front of you. I do know what sexual harassment is. Rachel made me take a class about it. Apparently making snide comments about her dating life was improper. She was dating my sister, I feel I was perfectly justified." Santana stared at him and he sighed. "Would you rather I bring this smell onto our floor?" Charlie challenges.

Santana opened her mouth and then closed it, he had a valid point. "You're right, I'd rather not have you upstairs stinking up both our apartments. Can't you just wave your hand and get the stink off you?"

Charlie sniffed in indignation, immediately regretting that as he was hit with the foul odor. "I'm a _magician_ not a demi-god, there are limits to my magic and—"

"You were never any good at cleaning spells, got it." Santana finishes for him watching as he turned a deep red. "Okay, I've trained for this."

"Really?" Antonio asks suddenly more interested in his mother than he was with Charlie. "Can I help? What are we supposed to do?" He glances at Charlie and leans closer to his mom. "It'll be like giving Spot a _bath_ ," he whispers and takes a step away from Spot who hisses at him.

Santana snorted at the comment as Charlie made a face, "Well first we need to figure out what that slime is. Then we can work from there." She glances at Charlie expectantly.

"Hmm? Oh this is Mongolian Death Worm slime," Charlie explains picking at the goop on his arm with his fingers. He turns to Antonio, "You know they shoot lightning from their butt right?"

"Really?" Antonio asks his eyes widening. "That's _so cool_. Did you take a picture?"

"Of course not, I was busy attempting to not get myself killed," Charlie makes a face. "I imagine Brittany will be disappointed she wanted me to bring that thing back alive. Frankly if she wants one alive then she can do it herself without my help. It's far too dangerous to put in a zoo even with a thousand wards."

Santana frowned, "Are you _sure_ it was a Mongolian Death Worm? I didn't know that they were covered in blue slime. There also wasn't any mention of a stench, not like that in any of the books."

"That's because they're endangered, no one really sees them anymore. But you're right, while they are covered in a mucus like substance this goo isn't from its skin, well some of it is. The blue slime and probably the source of the smell comes from its stomach content—"

"Did you get eaten? Like in the movies?"

"No—of course not. I caused the damn thing to explode and—what type of movies have you been watching? I think being swallowed alive would—" Charlie asks turning to Antonio.

" _Focus_." Santana snapped her fingers causing Charlie to turn his attention back to her. He was watching her, and she could immediately feel herself being judged, this was probably some test that he had conjured up to see how far she had come. She swallows wracking her brain for what to do in this situation. "Well if you got slimed by a death worm, the mucus is probably going to leave a nasty rash if you don't apply the balm." Santana glanced around. "You wouldn't happen to have it laying around would you?"

"No, but I imagine my mother knows the ingredients to whip up a batch. However, if you remember, I informed you that the smell and the blue slime do _not_ come from the death worm's slimy exterior but rather from it's stomach contents." Charlie reminded her.

Santana let out a frustrated growl and looked over at the bookshelves which were past Charlie before turning back to him. "Look, I can't get to the bookshelf unless I come near you, and if I come near you then I'm sure I'm going to hurl—"

"It's not in the books, well not quite," Charlie interrupts. "I'm sure you can memorize just fine, but you need to take the next step and put the information that you know together. What does a death worm eat? And what magical properties does it have?"

Santana frowned, thinking back. "Things found in the soil, there's nothing remarkable about what they eat, or how they digest. In fact—despite the name they are rather peaceful creatures unless agitated."

"Yes well, I'm sure it was a perfectly nice death worm however this is _not_ its native environment and our ecosystem is fragile without adding death worms to the mix. Not to mention if it gets agitated in this populated city the results would be _catastrophic_." Charlie grumbled.

Santana frowned, "There are no magical properties involved which means—"

"That I can use a mixture, of coconut oil, vegetable shortening, lye and distilled water, and whatever scent I so choose."

" _Soap_? You can wash this off with soap?"

"I imagine so, I've never been sprayed with the stomach contents of a death worm before. It was quite the adventure, and mostly Quinn's fault." Charlie shrugged.

"Soap is wonderful, but that smell Charlie, it's not going to wipe that away. If it's anything like a skunk, Tony and I will pick up a few cans of pureed tomatoes for you to bathe in before you head upstairs. Hopefully that will neutralize the smell." She would also bring back a _bucket_ , he probably needed a bucket of sorts to bathe himself in and a few towels and something to scrub the slime off his body. "Come on Tony let's go get some supplies so Charlie can get himself clean.

"But _mom_ , I wanna hear about how Mr. Charlie fought the death worm!" Tony protests immediately.

Santana looked at her son, "Do you _really_ want to stay in here while he smells like this?" Santana pointed out.

Antonio made a face, his mother made a very valid point. "Will you tell me the story when you don't smell really bad?"

Charlie shrugged and nodded. It was hardly an action filled day, he had spent most of the day running away and complaining about how Quinn was a menace. There had been failed attempts to catch the thing but it was exceptionally difficult to draw wards while you were running for your life. "I suppose so, but it's hardly that interesting."

"Alright," Antonio said moving towards his mom and grabbing her arm. "Let's hurry." He stops when he realizes that they need to get past Charlie to go through the door. "Uh—"

Charlie shook his head and moved to the opposite end of the store for them, taking a seat on the ground and crossing his long legs. Terri was right, Santana was learning at a rapid pace. It was such a shame that she had grown up to be a mundane, she could have been a powerful Magician in her own right of that he had no doubt.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: As some of you are aware, I do have a pat..reon and if you want to donate to it, that's great, but if you don't have the money, that's also fine, if you still want to support me. Reviewing helps loads. So if you could take your time to review that would be great.**

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Charlie held out his hands, each one balled into a fist for Antonio to try to pick where the coin was. He had no idea what was taking Santana so long, he had _seen_ the Assistant's exam before and it certainly wasn't hard despite what Rachel insisted. He watched as Antonio's face scrunched up and he studied Charlie's hands carefully. "For a dwarf you're really bad at this game."

Antonio made a face and tapped Charlie's right hand. "That one. It's not fair you're probably using _magic_."

"You never said I couldn't," Charlie responds flatly rotating his hand and opening his palm. "Wrong again."

"It's in your pocket then!"

"Which one?"

Antonio frowns. "If I tell you then you'll just move it to another one."

"It's not in my pockets," Charlie informs him after a moment. His eyes sweep over Antonio and he tilts his head. "You _really_ can't see it?"

"Charlie—" Judy scolds softly, "he's just a child." She's not unaware of what Charlie's trying to do but it's more than likely that if Antonio has magical abilities at all, they won't manifest until he's much older.

But Antonio screws up his face trying to figure out where the coin could have gone. If it wasn't in Charlie's hands and it wasn't in his pocket—a brief glimmer flashed in Charlie's outstretched palm, it was followed by a blinding pain in his head right behind his eyes and he immediately closed them. "Ow, _brain freeze_."

Charlie smirks and removes the rest of the cloaking spell that Antonio had seen through, if only for a moment. It had answered the question that he had been curious about, and for a split second he had forced open Antonio's third eye. His magic was still growing, but he _had it_.

Judy rushes to Antonio's side, glaring at Charlie. She nods at Quinn who slaps Charlie upside the head. "Charles, there are _reasons_ that we allow children to grow into it, and we try and prevent them from expressing their magic. One of the reasons is that they end up like the three of you."

"I have magic?" Antonio blinks grinning wildly looking at Charlie for confirmation. This was the best news that he had ever heard.

"No." Rachel interjects before Charlie can tell Antonio the truth. From what she had learned from Judy, all three of her children were _terrors_. Magic wasn't a toy and Antonio's body was a good indicator that he simply wasn't ready to start magic.

Despite Rachel's words, Charlie nods quickly and Antonio jumps up excitedly. " _Cool_. Can you start—"

"No." Charlie interrupts bluntly.

Antonio frowns, "But—"

"Antonio, listen to me. Magic isn't a _toy_ , and you're far too short to be using it. Your body simply isn't ready and before you decide to prove me wrong. That sharp pain you felt in your head that was your body informing you that it's not ready. If you start using magic now there's a chance that you might seriously injure yourself, and more importantly there's a chance that you may destroy your ability to use magic." Charlie's tone was firm as he studied Antonio.

Antonio scowled and looked down for a moment, "You said you had magic when you were my age."

"Both my parents are magician's Antonio. I was born with all the pathways fully developed. However, at best only one of your parents has magic and while it's not impossible—it does mean that you need to grow into your power."

"Oh," Antonio scratched his head and made a face. He brightens after a moment, "Once I'm old enough will you teach me magic?"

"No," Charlie responds again and blinks when Antonio makes another face. "You'll have to go to a proper school of magic for that. I doubt your mother will allow me anywhere near you when you're attempting to learn."

"But you'll teach me how to blow stuff up?" Antonio asks hopefully. "When I'm old enough?"

Charlie hesitates and it's long enough that Quinn elbows him in the gut. " _No._ " Quinn, Rachel and Judy answer for him. Magical explosives were dangerous, especially for an underage magician.

Antonio frowns, and he's not sure who looks more disappointed, Charlie or himself.

"Right. _No_." Charlie winks at Antonio. What his mother and former assistant didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Plus there were plenty of non-harmful uses for exploding things.

Quinn rolls her eyes. If Charlie thought he was subtle, she wasn't sure how he managed to stay alive this long. "Are you sure you want Charlie to be the one to teach you—"

"Well, he certainly doesn't want you," Charlie interrupts. "I'd like him to understand how to make a _proper_ wards and sigils."

"I was going to suggest Brittany," Quinn snaps tersely, he would never ever let her live it down that wards were not her strength. If they weren't in front of her parents and a child she would put him through the wall.

"He doesn't want to get eaten by gryphons," Charlie insists.

"Lord Tubbington just doesn't like you." Brittany informs him before looking at Antonio. "Unlike Charlie, I can teach you how to ride and train dragons."

Antonio blinked and grinned, "Really?"

"Really and you don't even need magic," Brittany insists. It certainly helped especially when it came to corralling them, but you didn't _need_ magic to do basic stuff like flying.

"Really?"

Charlie frowned deeply placing a hand on Antonio's shoulder. His sister's had a nasty habit of taking what belonged to him. His spell books, his homework, his toys, his food, his assistants, and that was only a few examples of a litany of things that they had taken from him. It was almost enough to—Charlie pauses for a moment before letting go of Antonio's shoulder, and looked at Antonio for a moment studying him. Antonio was a _dwarf_ , which meant that he didn't really belong to anyone but Santana. He was _her_ dwarf. Which meant that he could simply go to her to make sure that Antonio had absolutely nothing to do with his sisters.

Russell studied his son, watching his interaction with Santana's son carefully. The first thing that he had noted was that Antonio was always within arm's reach of his son, and Charlie didn't seem to mind that his personal space was being invaded. Nor did he seem impatient when dealing with Antonio. His son seemed eerily alert to his surroundings for once. It was _interesting_ and peculiar. Though if he was being honest with himself it made sense that Charlie would make friends with a child. Terry had _suggested_ that he pay attention to how Charlie interacted with Santana. Normally he'd be against Charlie being with an assistant, all of his children seemed taken with their assistant's but at this point he just needed his son to be with _someone_. "Charles?"

Charlie tilted his head toward his father, "I forgot to bring your package. I'll have Santana drop it off when she has time."

"Package—are you still drinking _dwarven mead_?" Judy whips her head to her husband.

"Of course not." Charlie responds for his father. "It's dwarven ale."

Russell winced when his wife glared but held up his finger, they'd have this argument later. "What's in your pocket? It's about to fall." His words are enough to get his wife to turn to Charlie, her irritation forgotten as she focused on the red wrapped gift that threatened to fall out of his jacket pocket.

Charlie fumbles, shoving the package deeper into his jacket. "It's nothing." Russell is stunned when a light blush dusts Charlie's cheeks.

"It was wrapped." Judy disagrees. Charlie didn't normally go to the effort of wrapping Christmas presents and she had just conceded that he probably didn't care about the normal social convention.

But Brittany is never one to pass up on an opportunity to tease her brother. "Was it a _gift_?" She grins broadly, "Did you get it for Santana?"

Charlie frowns for a moment, there is no point in hiding it, and his genius did need to be applauded. "Yes."

Rachel frowns, "And you got this for Santana because she's going to be your new assistant?"

"Yes," Charlie responded again, deciding to simply use one-syllable answers.

Rachel puffs out her cheeks and looks over at Mike who simply shrugs, "I see, you never gave Mike or myself a _gift_ when we came to work for you. What's so—"

"I did give you a gift," Charlie interrupts frowning.

Rachel pauses thinking back, Charlie had only paid her on time, which was something he was _supposed_ to do. He had never even once bought her lunch, because as far as he was concerned she only ate rabbit food. "I can't remember you giving me a gift."

"You were working with me. What more could you ask for?" Charlie sniffed indignantly. Santana had grown up as a mundane, she had _no_ idea that he was someone important and it was customary to give people presents when they graduated.

Rachel's jaw dropped and she was sure she heard Quinn snort in amusement. " _Don't_ encourage him!"

The door to the examination room opens and the people sitting for the test file out, each one being handed a flat nickel coin on their exit. It's a few minutes before Santana shuffles out, her eyes wide and dazed as she takes the coin from the proctor.

"Mom!" Antonio weaves through the other people and grabs her hand, leading her through the swells of people to where Charlie and his family were waiting. "How did you do?"

She frowns, flipping the blank coin over in her hands. "I probably won't know for a while. I think I did well but with all those people it will probably be a while before we have the results."

"How long?" Antonio looks up to Charlie for the answer because Charlie knows _everything_.

"Hmm—" Charlie scratches his chin. "There were what, sixty or so people sitting for the test?"

"Yeah, so it will take a couple of months?" Santana guessed.

"For the full results, maybe a week? They won't bother grading the exams that didn't pass." Charlie guessed. "But you should get the results of whether you passed any second now."

"I'm sure you did well." Rachel assures. "Not as well as I did, of course."

"Any second? How do they—" Santana blinked and rubbed her eyes, the questions had been rather easy as far as she was concerned, but this basic algebra, she wasn't sure if she had gotten the answers correct. "Never mind, you're going to say—"

" _Magic!_ " Brittany says cheerfully. "Just wait for a second. Letting the participants know this early gives them time to prepare again, in case they failed, while it allows the people who passed to start the process to become unionized assistants. Also this is when the magicians start jockeying for their new assistants."

"But you already have a job and you're not joining the union," Charlie insists before Brittany can put that idea into Santana's head.

Rachel frowned ever so slightly, "Santana, you can do whatever is you want. Despite what Charlie may say, unions are _not_ the villainous organization that he wants them to be. In fact, as you'll remember from our discussions of magical history, it was only once the unions were in place that magicians stopped their magical testing on assistants—"

Santana turned to Charlie, "Remember our deal? No explosions, no doing magic on me and I can say no to any idea I find problematic?"

"Yeah," Charlie nods.

Santana studies him for a moment, "And you'll respect me saying no?" She's rewarded with a simple shrug from him and she shakes her head. It was probably the best she was going to get out of him. "I don't think I need a union, thanks though, Rachel."

Rachel huffed and looked at Mike hoping that he would jump in. Charlie was exactly the type of magician that made it _necessary_ for assistant's to be unionized. At least when Santana realized this she could still enter the union. "The union is open for you whenever you decide that you can't handle—that." She waves her hands at Charlie.

Santana was about to respond when she feels the coin in her hand heating up, she winces as she drops it. "Ow, what the hell!"

"Test results." Quinn explains, folding her arms over her chest as Charlie picks up the coin. "The coin will turn to silver if you pass, lead if you fail. Though a few years ago they started printing _'Congratulations'_ and _'Try Again'_ as well since _someone_ thought she failed and—"

"In my _defense_ lead and silver look awfully similar." Rachel interrupts, frowning at her wife and daring her to continue. "Anyone could have made that mistake—"

"You _passed._ " Charlie grins proudly, handing Santana the coin. "I knew you would even with Rachel and Mike interfering."

"I passed?" Santana blinked staring at the silver coin. "You're serious? I passed just like that?" A grin crosses her face, it's silly, she was sure her GED was _harder_ than the stupid exam but she still felt that same _elation_ , when she had found out that she had passed the exam. It's an involuntary reaction, hugging Charlie though as she feels him stiffen with her touch for a second.

"YOU PASSED!" Antonio shouted launching himself at both his mom and Charlie hugging them both and keeping them together. "Awesome! What now?"

Charlie patted Santana on the back awkwardly, he was aware that every member of his family was staring at him and possibly judging him but his family was odd, and judgmental and they stole things from him. "Congratulations, I had absolute faith in you once Terry took over."

Santana immediately lets go, flushing a bit. "I should send her something—"

"She's partial to aged dwarven ale, or some jewelry from the dwarven mines." Russell spoke up and shrugged his shoulders when Judy raised a brow at him. It would give Charlie something to do. "Now, Charles why don't you give Santana the gift you got for her?"

"A gift?" Santana raises her brow and holds out her hand expectantly. She hadn't anticipated Charlie giving her a gift but she wasn't one to turn down free bling—or whatever the magical equivalent of bling was. "Your dad's right, hand it over."

Charlie scowls and fishes the gift out of his pocket. He ignores Quinn's smirk at his attempts at wrapping and simply places it in Santana's hand. "I made it for you. It for now is one of a kind."

Santana eyes it carefully, before shaking it, "It won't explode will it?"

"No. It shouldn't," Charlie responds scratching his cheek. He wasn't quite sure if it would work for Santana, her gifts were rare but he hoped that the spell had worked.

Santana flicks her eyes at him, as she feels Antonio pulling on her arm to see what it is. She unwraps it carefully and pauses at the glasses case in her hands. "You got me sunglasses?"

"No. _Glasses_." Charlie corrects as Santana pops the top open.

" _Boring!_ " Brittany comments shaking her head. She had bet Mike that Charlie had gotten her jewelry. But perhaps she was putting far too much faith in her brother. "Come on Chuck, you should have given her _jewelry_ or something right Quinn?"

"Yeah, I mean does she even _need_ glasses?"

" _Girls_ , I'm sure Charlie has a reason—" Judy interrupted watching the events unfold. She couldn't think of anything, but she needed to have some hope that her son wasn't completely hopeless.

"I have perfect vision Charlie—"

"And no control over your second sight, or your Mexican third eye, or whatever you call it. I added some features," Charlie adds ignoring everyone else as he motions for Santana to slip on the glasses and pulls his own silver coin out of his pocket. He moves his hands behind his back, before bringing them up so Santana could choose a hand.

Santana sighs and does as she's asked, she hadn't known what she had expected but this wasn't _it_. He holds his hand out and she picks the one that's clearly holding a mid-sized silver coin. "What is the point of this?" She asks when she sees the coin in his hand.

"Take off your glasses." Charlie beams. He wasn't sure why he ever doubted himself. Of course it was going to work.

Rolling her eyes, she complies again. "I don't see what—" She stops mid-sentence when the coin in Charlie's palm disappears completely only to flicker back into sight momentarily before disappearing again. "What the hell is that?"

"It worked. Of course it did, I spent days making sure that the runes were correct," Charlie mutters. There were times when he surprised himself of course, but this wasn't magic that had ever been done before. Tapping into someone's powers like that, he could change magic all together if he truly wanted to. "I modified the glasses, so that it would help you see with your Mexican eye without you struggling with it. You'll be able to see through illusions amongst other things." Charlie nudges Antonio. "Go on, tell your mother a lie." Charlie said when Santana put the glasses back on.

"Spot ate all the cookies." Antonio tries.

Santana blinks, she can't explain but it's like a red aura or something appears around Antonio for a moment before disappearing. "I know you're lying Antonio, so be truthful. Did you eat all the cookies?"

Antonio hesitated for a moment and bit his lip. He had gone over this with Mr. Charlie even though he didn't quite understand what was going on. "I did."

Santana blinks, there it was again. "You're lying—Antonio—"

"I ate them," Charlie steps in. " _Obviously._ Don't be mad at him, I needed to see if it actually worked, and since you can never tell if I'm joking or not, I figured use the dwarf for the practice test. Good job Antonio."

"Wait—you mean I can't fib anymore without my mom knowing?" Antonio asked looking at Charlie aghast.

Santana pulled the glasses off, "You couldn't fib and get away with it to begin with, Mexican third-eye remember?"

"It's not _full_ proof," Charlie informed her. "If Antonio thinks he's telling the truth then it won't register, but I'd say you're about eighty percent accurate."

Russell was the first to move forward as Santana pulled off the glasses, "You _made_ these?" He's not sure why he's surprised, Charlie's fairly gifted and always liked tinkering around with things but these don't look anything like the weirdly mismatched trinkets he used to come up with.

"Yes. They don't _create_ a magical ability, but they do focus Santana's latent powers."

"How long would it take you to make me a pair?"

"I want one too." Quinn speaks up. As long as they're making requests maybe she can actually get something useful out of her twin brother for a change.

"I don't know what good it will do either of you." Charlie dismisses. Neither Quinn nor his father have any sort of powers like Santana's. But if they're insistent maybe he can make a duplicate. It would be easier than trying to get another bottle of dwarven ale. "You _both_ can make orders at the shop starting next week, in time for the grand re-opening."

"You never closed." Brittany points out, unimpressed.

"The shop's closed _now._ " Charlie retorts.

Brittany rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Yes, well I imagine it will take Santana a week or so to get the shop all cleaned up."

Santana scowls. "I am _not_ your mother—uh no offense Mrs. Fabray."

"None taken."

"So you can clean the shop _yourself_ and then I will _maintain_ it for you." Before Charlie can form his next argument, she holds up her hand. "And don't even think that the brownie family will take care of it for you. You've got to organize your stuff and I'm not touching anything until the shop is ready for commercial habitation."

Charlie frowned, this was _not_ what he had in mind. He was paying Santana to do everything _he_ didn't want to do. Cleaning the store was not something he wanted to do.

"I'll help Mr. Charlie," Antonio tugged on his arm. He probably had so much cool stuff tucked away all over his store. It would be fun.

Charlie pats Antonio on the head, "Excellent—"

"You're not using Antonio as child labor either," Santana adds, she would certainly help him get the store ready but she wasn't going to do it by herself. She had heard the horror stories from Rachel, who had organized everything in her own system and Charlie had never been able to find what he was looking for. This way maybe he would be able to keep the place neat and she'd have less work to do over all.

"This isn't negotiable is it?" Charlie asked after a moment.

"No, it isn't," Santana crossed her arms over her chest, she was well aware that the entire Fabray clan was watching their interaction.

"Fine—I'm hungry now, let's go get some food," Charlie finished waving his hand.

"Lunch is my treat." Russell assures. The magician's restaurant across the street from where they were had an all-you-can-eat buffet where the serving bowls were magically replenished. That should be enough to keep his son from racking up an enormous bill. He claps Santana warmly on the shoulder. "Welcome to the family."


	14. Chapter 14

Santana turned her attention back to the door, which jingled as it opened. She hadn't really gotten used to it, people other than his family entering his shop. It almost made it seem like Charlie was famous and actually _knew_ what he was doing. She still had her doubts after the mini fire he had caused this morning. At least she had managed to put it out before it got out of hand. It hadn't helped that she had spent a week getting Charlie organized, especially since he just left things everywhere as if he expected them to be back where he put them when he needed them again. "Welcome to Pandora's antiquities—oh good afternoon Mr. Fabray." Santana smiled, it was a long way from the financial district. "Are we late on an order of your special packages? We've been busy and I don't think he's had time to go to the tunnels.

Russell made a face, the things he had to put up with. "No, of course not. My wife made it abundantly clear to Charles that he was _only_ allowed to get me dwarven alcohol for my birthday, father's day and Christmas."

"Do you want me to make a note of it so he doesn't forget?" Santana asked.

"Please?"

Santana nodded, surprised that the Fabray's even celebrated Christmas at all. No one had really given her a talk about the various religions, and she made a mental note to ask Charlie about it. "Of course, but that's not the reason you came all the way down here. Let me check to see what Charlie is up to." Santana said pulling away to take a peek behind the dark curtain to check to see if he was currently in the middle of a spell.

"Actually—" Russell began.

"Charlie your dad's here to see you," Santana informed him, he didn't look like he was in the middle of a spell. Instead he was busy jotting stuff down while playing with his magical coin.

"I'm aware, he tripped my wards," Charlie replied looking at her.

"You have a warning system that your parents are coming to visit and yet you can't create a magical fire extinguisher that puts out any type of fire?" Santana demand.

"Well, I don't _like_ dealing with my parents—but you're right about the extinguisher that would be handy."

"And when it works then you can sell them in your shop," Charlie had already made some money off the glasses that he had created for her. But as far as she was concerned he was practically giving them away for free. They didn't reflect the time and effort he put into making each one and even though he had gotten exceptionally quick at making them, that didn't mean that they were worth only a few dollars. She was going to have to drag him through the store and make sure she understood how everything worked before deciding on the price for him. If he made more money, she was getting a raise. She'd have to visit another magical store to see what they were pricing their inventory however.

"I suppose you're right, I don't like making mass productions of spells. It's _boring_ , and I don't want to make magic _easy_." Charlie muttered as he slid off his chair. He looks up at his dad and frowns. "What do you want?"

"I'm not here for you, I'm here to talk to your assistant. Go back to blowing stuff up and muttering to yourself about spells."

"Oh." Charlie brightens. "Well if you don't need me, I've got orders to fill—you aren't trying to steal my assistant are you?" Charlie immediately puts his hand on Santana's shoulder. "She's _my_ assistant."

Russell raised a brow, Charlie had never been this possessive before, though it could be that Quinn and Brittany had screwed him over before. "I'm _married_ to your mother, and I don't _need_ another assistant. Terri barely has anything to do. Yet if you wish for me to _humiliate_ you in a duel, you can show your face at Sunday dinners."

Charlie let go of Santana's shoulder, studying his father for a moment. "You haven't done magic in years, you don't want me to embarrass you in front of mom. Who will immediately blame it on the fact that you're an old man rather than the fact that you don't do magic anymore." Charlie turns to Santana. "If he offers you a job say no," he orders before heading back to his work space.

Russell watched him go, "You help raise them and then when they become adults they think that they know everything."

Santana shot him a small smile, "I'm worried about the day that Antonio doesn't call me mommy anymore, or doesn't want me to hug him publicly."

"Charles was never that child, he's always been a bit—off. Like there's too much going on in his head," Russell informed her studying her. "Though you're right the reason I'm here isn't to discuss about dwarven ale, it's about your relationship with my assistant."

"I haven't seen Terri in a few days, she stopped by to see how I was doing and offered some advice but other than that, I haven't spoken to her since."

"Not that one, the _mundane_ one." Russell corrected. "Samson, or Susan—what is his name?"

Santana froze for a moment her back going rigid. "Sebastian?"

"Is that it?" Russell furrows his brow and then shakes it off. "The one with the slick hair, right?"

Santana nods mutely.

"He's been asking about you. And about my son. I don't even have a picture of Charlie in my office. He never showed for the family portrait, but now apparently I have a wayward son that all the mundanes are gossiping about. I don't like it. How does he know you?"

Santana studied Russell for a moment, he didn't seem to judge her for having a son out of wedlock, but he also didn't really know him. Still Sebastian was the one that had abandoned her. "He's Antonio's father. But—Antonio doesn't know and Sebastian doesn't want anything to do with my son. I haven't seen him in years. I didn't even know that he was working for you."

Russell bites the inside of his cheek. "I see."

Santana glanced away for a moment, turning to look at Charlie's workshop, she liked to pretend that he didn't hear things. Sometimes it was difficult ascertaining what he knew, but she had worked so hard and people were judgmental. She had been back when she was a teenager, looking at people who were _below_ her. She had never thought that her life could be this, and even though the job was harder than the damn bakery, she actually liked it. Antonio liked it here. He wasn't like other people, he was odd and barely paid attention and he was blunt in a way that was both offensive and refreshing. It wasn't that she thought he'd fire her for having Antonio, as far as she could tell Charlie _liked_ having Tony around, even if he continuously referred to her as a son as a dwarf. She had a sneaking suspicion that Charlie viewed Tony as a mascot. No she was worried that Charlie would find her _mundane_. "Look, I don't want him to come looking for Antonio either, he made it clear that he never wanted him when he handed me the money to get an abortion. _I_ made the choice to keep him, and Antonio doesn't seem to mind that he doesn't have a father. I figure in a few years he might get a bit pushy about it but right now he's _all_ about magic."

Russell nods, his opinion on Sebastian souring immediately. "Well, he's a fine young man and you're doing an excellent job in raising him. Curious, and he manages to keep my son on his toes. It's difficult raising a child, I had three of them. We were only aiming for two and then we got twins. And I assure you having a father-figure doesn't mean that he'll come out normal." Russell tilts his head to Charlie. "Still you love them even when they _rat_ you out to your wife!"

Santana relaxes and smiles, they were welcoming and she wasn't being judged. She pauses for a moment and looks around before opening the drawer, and pulling out a bottle that Charlie kept for whatever reason. "I'll see what I can do," she promises him.

Russell grins, he knew that he liked this one better than Rachel and Mike. "Well if you want to work for me—" The curtain opened and Charlie poked his head out and glared at him holding his hand out, lightning arcing and building up in the palm of his hand. "You know where to find me. I know I pay better."

" _Out_." Charlie snapped at his father.

Russell laughed and winked at Santana before turning to leave. He stops at the door for a moment and then grins turning back to Santana. "If you and your son ever want to join us for dinner, Charlie knows where we live I assume. We're not a hundred percent sure that he hasn't forgot. Just give me a call first. It'll be good to have a child around, my children seem to be punishing us by not giving us what we want."

" _Out!_ " Charlie insists crossing his arms. He relaxes the moment the door closes and he can no longer see his father. He shifts a bit and turns to Santana studying her for a moment.

"I'm not going to abandon you for your _father_. I'll have nothing to do and I don't think that I can leave you on your own. You'll probably burn down the building," Santana waves him off. "Get back to work. Also I need a list of your competition, we're going to make this store the _best_ store in the area. I need to see what we're up against so you aren't hemorrhaging money." Santana said briskly. She felt oddly uncomfortable under his gaze. It was difficult to know what went on his mind.

"Rachel would know that information better than I would," he admits after a moment. "Also I'm going to need an empty fire extinguisher," he adds before pulling the curtain back.

Santana nods watching as he reaches for something and sighs when he begins to fumble through the cue cards that Rachel had given him. "Say it, I told you that you don't need to hide behind the cue cards."

Charlie glances at her again, he fingers the card that was meant to express some form of generic empathy. "This _person_ , the dwarf's father. If you want I can turn him into a slug or something. However I can't promise that it'll work. Transmogrification is not a specialty of mine and he's probably going to explode. Or he'll get stuck like that for a few weeks. It's hard to tell sometimes. If I were to take an educated guess, it's more likely to be the former. But not like a big explosion but like a splat. Like a bubble popping."

Santana stared at him torn at being touched and weirdly grossed out by his description, "Thank you, but no. One day Antonio will ask about his father, one day he might even want to meet his father and I don't want to be the one to tell him that you turned him into a slug and caused him to explode. Who knows, maybe one day Sebastian will actually want to _be_ a part of Antonio's life. I doubt it but who knows?"

Charlie nods, and slips the cards in his pocket. "But if you change your mind?"

"I know where to find you." Santana smiles at him. Sure he was weird but as bosses went he wasn't the _worst_ boss she'd ever had, plus Antonio loved him as a babysitter.


	15. Chapter 15

Santana sighed as she wrapped up one of the final packages for the day, she'd start making the calls for pickup first thing tomorrow morning. They were behind schedule, though that had more to do with the fact that Charlie had gone to visit the dwarves again—or so he said. She still couldn't discern whether he was joking or whether he was being serious. She had closed the doors an hour ago to make sure she wasn't going to be late getting out of work but trying to make sure they served as many customers as possible.

Charlie poked his head out of his work area and glanced at the sign for a moment before heading to the armchair in the corner of his store. "I think we should be closed tomorrow too. Good idea with the sign thing."

Santana rolls her eyes and frowns as she turns to him, she might be closing early but he still had work to do. "I didn't close the store for fun. Did you forget? I told you I have Antonio's parent-teacher conference."

Charlie tilted his head, "Why do you need to have that?" Charlie asks. As far as he was concerned, parents were supposed to parent and teachers were supposed to teach. It didn't seem like it was that hard. "Oh, did he get in trouble again?"

Santana shot him an incredulous look, "No." She opens her mouth and then closes it, this was probably far too mundane him to understand. He didn't seem to be that interested in Antonio's schooling unless Antonio went to him directly for help because some strange reason Tony believed with every fiber of his being that Charlie was the smartest person he knew and understood everything. "Didn't your parents ever go to your magic school to see how you were doing and to see how they could help you?" When Charlie shoots her a flat look she rolls her eyes. Of course, he was the genius who didn't need adult supervision, it was a story that she doubted but she wasn't going to openly doubt it. "Okay, did your parents ever visit your teachers to talk about how they could help Quinn?"

"Perhaps they did, but it certainly didn't help Quinn. I honestly don't know what my parents did with our teachers or if they talked to them. The moment that we were old enough they shipped us off to boarding school. We were eight."

Santana blinked that seemed far too young, she couldn't imagine shipping Antonio off in a few years. "Boarding school? What like Hogwarts?"

Charlie made a face, Santana needed a better point of reference then that. "In a way, it was a preparatory school, for _people_ like me. Magical education doesn't begin until around the age of puberty and even then it's staggered, not everyone shows their ability at the same time. Though the _latest_ is generally sixteen. The preparatory school is for students like Brittany, Quinn and myself who have _magic_ and parents who are at their wits end."

Santana nodded it suddenly made sense. She'd seen them bicker before and when they were young and had magic? She was surprised that all three of them had made it into adulthood—she flicks her eyes at Charlie for a moment, relatively unscathed. "Yes well, it's what parents do. I want Antonio to do well in school. He's a smart boy and I think that he just needs to apply himself a bit more. But, I do have to thank you. I mean he didn't really like to read before he met you and now all he does is read—sure it's about training dragons and it's obvious he's not going to have a career as a dragon trainer, but it's a start. I was wondering if there were _other_ books that you have that aren't well training manuals but like stories that he can start to read."

Charlie flicked his eyes along the various books on the shelves, most of them were there for show. There were very few people who actually bought books from him but mundanes entered all the time. "Of course, I'll find him something."

"That won't give him nightmares for the rest of his life and is—you know what just let me read them first and I'll determine what's age appropriate. I realize we don't have the same definition of what age appropriate is. You think he's a dwarf."

Charlie waved his hand, "And yet when _you're_ busy, you have no problem having me watch him."

Santana opened her mouth to protest but then decided to simply leave it alone, he had a point. Though as far as babysitters went, Charlie wasn't necessarily _that_ bad. In fact Antonio listened to him and he seemed to enjoy playing games with Charlie even though it was common knowledge that Charlie cheated at games. Though he was currently having fun with the age-inappropriate chess game that Charlie was in the process of teaching him. Charlie insisted it was educational, but she was sure that he was just being a boy who enjoyed playing soldiers and watching the soldiers cut each other in half. "Speaking of which, so I might be late for dinner. There's food in the fridge, just heat it up—in the microwave do not use _magic_."

Charlie raised a brow, he wasn't the domestic type and he had no idea how to use a microwave. Or an oven and his attempts to learn had not gone very well. He had incorrectly assumed that it was just like creating potions. "I'll just take him to the diner," he waves his hand dismissively.

Santana sighs, as long as Charlie took care of it she didn't really mind what Antonio had for dinner. "Fine."

~0~

"I don't know where he comes up with these stories, who knows Ms. Lopez you may have a famous writer on your hands. It's rather detailed too, Mongolian Death Worms that shoot lightning out of it's butt. When he read everyone his story—they loved it I mean there weren't any interruptions or anything of the sort. He'll be presenting that story to the entire school at the next assembly."

Santana blinked in surprise, trying to hide her relief. _Creative. Intuitive_. She had been prepared for the worst but apparently Antonio's detailed stories of Charlie's adventures were simply written off as the product of a child's imagination. "Yes. He does have a hyperactive imagination, I was worried that it would stop him from making friends."

"Well, I think that perhaps it did until he brought that magician in for show and tell, the kids have been asking for him to do another magic show. In fact we'd love it he could do a show for the entire school. Even a short one. The other teachers they didn't believe me when I described the show."

Santana grimaced inwardly, "We'll see, he's been swamped as of late. But maybe we can fit it in," it was the best that she could do. She wasn't quite sure what the rules were when it came to revealing magic to mundanes, but she didn't want to get him in trouble. Nor did she want this to become a _thing_ that he did. He was already busy enough and doing _children's_ birthdays seemed beneath him in a way. Though if she was being honest the last thing she wanted or needed was Charlie's ego growing bigger.

"Of course, well if you could give him my number, in case something opens up?"

Santana resisted the urge to roll her eyes, this seemed to be a recurring theme in Charlie's life. She had no idea if it was the fact that he was semi-decent with children, or if it was the fact that he was mildly attractive until of course he opened his mouth. "Of course." Charlie didn't even _own_ a phone, apart from the landline in the store. Which he usually ignored. She had debated simply picking him up a phone but it seemed like a waste since he'd never use it. "Thank you Mrs. McCarthy," Santana flashed a smile.

"Tell him he can use that anytime." The teacher clarified, just in case it wasn't completely obvious that she was practically fawning over him.

"Sure." Santana can't help but smirk. She wasn't sure Charlie really even knew how to work a phone, so that could be a very amusing experience. She continues to make polite conversation until she's done enough to ensure that Antonio's teacher doesn't think she's an uninvolved parent and finally excuses herself to find Antonio's storybook.

Locating the table with the small booklets covered with construction paper and an original drawing, she laughs softly at Antonio's dark orange booklet that stands out from the soft pinks and greens that the other students created.

"A lightning slug, that's pretty cool." A deep voice surprises her, forcing her to turn around at the new arrival.

"My son is creative, I'll say that." She explains with a shrug. She can't really put her finger on why, but her pulse is still racing. The man beside her seems harmless enough and she takes a deep breath to calm her still frantic heart. He was handsome enough with a boyish quality around him, though she found his haircut to be a bit ridiculous. It's not until he extends his hand that she notices that there are deep scars on it, and his fingers seem oddly stiff.

"Sorry, I know it's a bit much to look at but I was in an—accident when I was younger and this happened to my hands."

Santana frowns, feeling guilty for hesitating. She was trying to teach Antonio to be respectful of people with disabilities and not to stare at strange people. A lesson he was having trouble learning due to Charlie's general presence. She immediately extends her hand to shake his. "I'm so sorry, I'm Santana."

"Noah," he shrugs his shoulders and reaches to touch Antonio's book. "My daughter is in the other grade one class."

Santana isn't sure what makes her hesitate and instinctively pull her son's book closer to her. It's ridiculous, it's just his handmade storybook but she can't help feeling protective. She's being ridiculous and sheepishly smiles, handing him the book.

"His dad must be really proud." Noah comments with a smile, clearly fishing as he thumbs through Antonio's story.

"It's always just been me and Antonio. And yes, I'm very proud."

"I can relate, it's always been me and Beth too." His smile broadens and he hands the book back to her. "So 'Mr. Charlie and the Mongolian Death Worm'. That's an oddly specific thing for him to write about."

"Well Antonio has an oddly specific imagination. You should hear him talk about his pet dragon named Spot."

"I'd love to hear about it sometime. Maybe we can arrange a playdate?"

She wants to say no, Antonio only seems to care about Charlie and magic and dragons right now and it just seems so much easier to stop any questions before they start. But that is the very reason he _desperately_ needs to socialize with other kids. She's not about to raise some social recluse that doesn't know how to interact with people his age. She nods finally. "Yeah, that'd be great. Antonio is always looking for more friends."

Santana takes down his number and turns to grab her coat for the walk back to the store. It's not far and it isn't even dark out so she doesn't mind the stroll. She's used to it, especially since she typically walks Antonio to and from school on a regular basis.

She just pushes the door open when Noah runs up to intercept her. "Are you walking? Can I join you?" He smiles disarmingly. "I'm sort of new to the neighborhood and I can be great company."

Santana pauses for a moment, she can't shake that feeling of general unease but she nods, "Sure, there's a bakery nearby and a diner, I visit them _often._ Far too often, my son and my boss go through them like it's water."

"Sweet tooth?" Noah asks looking at her keeping up with her as she walks.

"Like you wouldn't believe. It was part of his contract negotiations that I need to give him a dozen cookies a day." Santana shakes her head. "Yet he's incredibly fit, and it honestly isn't fair. If I didn't see him eating those cookies, I'd think he was just fucking with me. But he eats them and then my son shares half of his cookies with him. I'd be annoyed but—free babysitting."

"That seems like quite the setup." Noah points out. "I'd give my right arm for free babysitting."

"My son _loves_ him; I don't know why but they just sort of get along. He listens to whatever my boss tells him to do. I mean for someone who doesn't _really_ like little people, whether they children or well, little people, he's really good with them."

"That's good, and it's important you know for a boy to have a man in his life. I know it might have made a difference if mine was around,"

Santana made a face, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted Charlie to be a father figure to Antonio, but she trusted him with her son. Which was worrying because she didn't trust him with his own magic at times. It was confusing, but from what she gathered. Charlie was simply uninterested in the whole human interaction thing which was why she was in the front of the shop dealing with people and he stayed in his little workshop tinkering away. She needed her son to be _normal_ and be able to have those interactions that would help him later in life. She didn't want him thinking that it was okay to simply be alone like that. It worked for Charlie but that didn't mean that it would work for Antonio. "We can arrange some playdates." She didn't feel at _ease_ with Noah there was something off about him but he seemed harmless and she was unsure what to do about the gut feeling. Though it could be the stupid haircut. Anyone who had a haircut that stupid at thirty, probably had terrible judgement and stupid tattoos on his arms. "Anyway that's the bakery and that's the diner that my son and my boss like to eat at." Santana pointed to the landmarks. She points down towards the end of the block, "That's the magic shop where I work. I basically run the place."

Noah nods as if he finds the whole thing interesting as he slows down, and reaches for his pockets, fumbling a bit as a small vibration was heard. "Sorry—it's probably the babysitter."

Santana nods, "Right I know how that is, I should probably make sure that my babysitter hasn't kept my son up or done something silly. I just have a feeling that Antonio will convince him to show him fire or something equally dangerous."

Noah laughed, "Of course, I'll see you later Santana. It was fun maybe we should get coffee sometime."

There was something in the way he said it that gave her pause for a moment, and even though there was a part of her that wanted to say no, she nodded. "Sounds great, I could use some more parent friends," Santana said waving at him before turning to head home. She reaches into her bag to pull out the keys to the entranceway to the apartments when the door swings open and she sees lightning crackling around Charlie's hand a frown on his face. She stumbles back and lands on her ass hard. "The hell!"

Charlie flicks his eyes towards Santana for a moment before reaching for her and grabbing her pulling her up and swinging her body behind him in one swift motion. "Someone tripped one of my wards," Charlie informed her his eyes darting around the area. "Did you see anything or anyone suspicious nearby?"

Santana froze for a moment exhaling and thinking back. "No—Charlie where's Antonio?"

"He's safe," Charlie promised. "Think. Anyone or anything suspicious? I can handle this and everything will be okay but if you saw anything or anyone—"

Santana shook her head, "No, I just walked home with a guy that I met at Antonio's school. He's a single dad. I think he felt uncomfortable with me walking home alone at night. I didn't see anything or anyone sneaking around and he got a call from his babysitter and left."

Charlie frowned and looked down the street but there was no one there. "It might—have been a false alarm," he says after a moment and makes a face. Those didn't generally happen. He'd have to recalibrate all his wards, something or someone magical had tripped his wards. It made him uneasy. He closes his fist and turns to Santana ushering inside and shooting one last glance at the street. "We're definitely closing the shop tomorrow. I need to rework my wards. Plus I need to see my sisters and rework their wards. You're coming with me. Quinn is _useless_ when it comes to anything other than basic wards and for Brittany it will be all hands on deck. She runs a zoo, it's going to be hectic and she's not going to be _thrilled_ that I'm asking her to shut down so I can have a look. We're taking the dwarf as well he can look at the dragons or something."

"Tony has school tomorrow," it was a Friday and she couldn't just pull him out.

"No. He doesn't." Charlie insists. He couldn't protect Tony if he was far away. He needed Tony in close proximity. He'd have to create a special ward for him tonight. Something that would keep him safe. He rubs his eyes, perhaps if he twisted the Mark of Cain with a physical protection ward it would be both a defensive and offensive weapon.

It takes her a moment to realize that Charlie seemed _worried_ , that he seemed bothered by his wards going off like they had. "Fine but we can't make this a thing. He needs school." She gets a grunt in reply as Charlie fishes out his coin to study it carefully. She opens the door to her apartment and frowns her heart dropping when she doesn't see her son. "Where is he?"

Charlie blinks and opens the door to his apartment, holding his hand up when a stray fireball was launched at his face. " _Spot_."

"You can shoot _fireballs_!" Antonio gasps. He looks up at his mom. "Spot can shoot fireballs! That is so _cool_. You should have seen Mr. Charlie mom! It was so cool, he got Spot to behave and Spot listened to everything he said! Have you been training my dragon in secret? How come she doesn't listen to me?"

Santana turned to Charlie. This was _not_ protection. "Really? A dragon that's—"

"The wards I have in place would have kept him safe. It would have also alerted my family that there was trouble and they would have been here to handle it, if anything were to happen to me. I promised you'd be safe, that your _son_ would be safe." Charlie studied Santana's face and waits till she nods before heading over to his counter and grabbing a dragon treat and tossing it at Spot.

The dragon flapped its wing to jump up and catch it before landing and gnawing on the treat. Antonio grinned and raced over to pet Spot. "Okay now roll over!" He was rewarded with his dragon turning and looking at him before blowing a puff of smoke in his face. "Aw come on you listened to Mr. Charlie."

Santana watched as her son began to argue with Spot who seemed content to gnaw on her treat, but the unease she had felt before was back. It was troubling and she glances at Charlie moving closer to him. "So you want to tell me how you managed to train Spot?"

"I didn't she just doesn't like being treated like a dog," Charlie responds as Spot nips Antonios fingers. "He'll figure it out, eventually. He's good to her and she likes him. Which is why she'll keep him safe."

Santana nods and pauses for a moment looking at Charlie, "You know how you said I was ignorant? And that meant that I didn't know if I was in danger or not. That I wouldn't know that I had to protect him or if I was just over reacting."

"That was the gist of what I said, yes," Charlie responded after a moment.

"I get that I needed to learn the basics, but I need you to teach me more." She turns to Charlie fully for a moment. "You said that there was magic running in me, you think it's powerful—I need to learn how to control it. I need to know how to protect him if you're not there to."

Charlie hesitates for a moment and rubs his forehead. "Unfortunately that path is closed off to you and I'm sorry. You would have been a _fine_ magician and the person who robbed you of that is cruel. If you were sixteen, even seventeen I'd be able to make it work, you may never be able to reach your full potential but you'd still be able to use magic. But you're far too old as it is. It's like a muscle if you don't use it, it will wither way. Even if I were to manipulate them open, which is _dangerous_ at your age you would never be able to do anything more than a few spells."

Santana gritted her teeth she had expected this she didn't want to be a magician. "So there's nothing that I can do?"

"You're not hopeless, you will just never be a magician, I never said you couldn't be something else. Tomorrow will be a perfect time to start learning. I would suggest getting some sleep soon. You'll both be learning a lot," Charlie said with a wave of his hand. He would need to see for himself what Santana could do; she was special he knew that much but _how_ special was the question.


	16. Chapter 16

Santana yawns and pads her way to the front door to stop the incessant knocking. There was only one possible culprit and by the time she got enough coffee in her blood to give her the energy to deal with him, he'd better pray that she's lost her homicidal rage. "Charlie, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Charlie frowns and lets himself in. "I told you. Today you and Antonio are learning more about magic. You asked me to teach you and the only way that I know how is to simply show you, and have you ask me questions. I find that it's easier for you to understand when you have questions. We've got a busy day ahead of today, mostly wards. I was under the opinion that we should do Brittany's wards first. Though we're going to have to avoid Lord Tubbington. I'm not allowed to zap him."

"Charlie it isn't even six o'clock in the morning." Santana rubs her eyes tiredly. It's way too early for this. "Antonio isn't even awake yet."

"So wake him up." Charlie shrugs, he never understood what the big deal was.

"No, I'm not going to wake my son up because you're a lunatic. Why are you even up? It's not even six yet!" Santana snaps at him. She sometimes forgot how inconsiderate he was.

Charlie tilts his head, "You're under the assumption that I went to sleep last night. I did some research, I looked into some myths, I did the work. I created something fantastic. Special, first of its kind—"

Santana stared at her boss for a moment, now that she noticed it he did have bags under his eyes and he did look tired. "Right. Whatever it is, you're not going to show it to my son until you've gotten some sleep. You're not doing any magic until you sleep, I know how dangerous a slipped syllable is and I'm not going to let you put anyone at risk because you're tired. I heard that it's just like drinking."

"Santana you don't understand it's the mark of—" Charlie yawns after Santana does and covers his mouth. "You did that on purpose."

"Of course I didn't. It's not even six yet." Santana sighs, managing his crazy was also part of her job and given that she'd worked with him for what felt like weeks, this was new. "Just—come inside." Santana says after a huge sigh and pulls him inside. "The couch isn't terrible so just sit down and relax, I'll make you a glass of warm milk—and give you a cookie." Santana adds before Charlie can even ask. He seems confused at first but he allows her to pull her along and she motions for him to sit on her comfy couch. This trick had worked on Antonio when he had refused to go to bed despite being tired and as smart as Charlie was, all he really needed to do was sit for a moment and he'd probably be out like a light.

Charlie scowls. They are losing valuable time, but he supposes a cookie couldn't hurt anything.

~O~

He wakes to the dwarf poking him in the chest and sits up quickly. "Finally, you're awake. We need to start practicing. It's a good thing your mother decided to wake you."

Antonio munches on his cereal and watches Charlie in confusion. "This is the time I always get up. Why were you sleeping?"

"I wasn't sleeping, I was—wait, what time is it?" Charlie glances down at his watch, scandalized. Santana must have tricked him somehow. He's torn between being impressed that his assistant got one up on him and being annoyed that his assistant managed to trick him into sleeping. He'd have to be very careful around Santana in the future. She was tricky. "Nearly eight. No matter, we need to get started right away. Protective wards can be difficult but—"

"How about we wait until everyone has had breakfast." Santana interrupts, sipping a mug full of warm coffee. Charlie hadn't even managed to have his cookie, he had passed out in seconds. It certainly saved her the cup of warm milk.

"Yes. Food. I'll take pancakes, eggs, and bacon, some sausage if you have it. Also your entire bottle of maple syrup." Charlie ordered as he began to work on the wrinkles in his shirt. "If I'm going to be doing magic then I need all the energy I can get."

Antonio stops eating his cereal and looks at his mom. "I want that too." Santana stared at her son and raised a brow at him causing Antonio to squirm. "Actually I'd rather have this cereal. Yummy."

Santana nods she wasn't going to let Antonio pick up on any of Charlie's bad habits which included barking food orders at her like she was his slave. If he wasn't as odd as he was she would think that he was being sexist, but she imagined that he had treated Mike the same way. "No Charlie, if you want to eat an obscene amount of food go to the diner." She wouldn't mind making him food if he ate normal portions but he didn't.

Charlie sighed, "Fine then we'll go to the diner then and then we'll go to get the wards done. Come along Antonio—oh I have something for you." Charlie said fishing around in his pockets. "I was going to give it to you once your mom woke you up." Charlie muttered before pulling out a chain and holding it out for Antonio. "I created it last night—"

"While you were sleep deprived? You're not going to give anything magical to my son until you run that through some tests to make sure that you didn't drop a syllable or forget a word. I don't want him to explode and no Antonio exploding is not cool it's very bad."

Charlie scowled at the implication that he needed sleep to conduct magic. It was balderdash as far as he was concerned. He had spent many nights working on spells, and there had only been one small fire. Once. "I do all my best thinking at night Santana. Ask the Brownies," he replies with an indignant sniff. He studies the charm in his hand and then pockets it. "But I'll make sure it won't cause him to explode."

"That's all I ask," Santana responds trying not to smile at his indignation. It would be rude to laugh at him and she wasn't quite sure that Charlie knew how to handle a little bit of teasing. Though he did have two sisters and a father that put up their best efforts to deflate his ego. "So you know, my shift doesn't actually start till nine, and it's far too early for all this magic mumbo jumbo, so as long as you're paying for breakfast then I suppose Antonio and I can join you. I just need to call the school and inform them that Antonio isn't coming in today."

It seemed to be news to Antonio who dropped his bowl of cereal on the hardwood floor, and Santana was glad that it was plastic. She was also grateful at Spot who began to clean the floor of the cereal. "I'm not going to school?" Antonio's eyes widened and he turns to Charlie who doesn't seem to be paying attention. "That's AWESOME."

"For today, only for today this is not going to be a regular thing. School is important," Santana interjects immediately, sighing as her son began to vibrate in excitement. It really was far too early for this.

"Defensive wards are important." Charlie counters, he's been itching to work with Santana and Antonio. It's not safe especially since his wards had been tripped last night. He's not worried or anxious—those are emotions for lesser magicians—no, he's simply concerned. Antonio has no way of defending himself and he's not sure that Santana does either. He doesn't want to let either of them out of his sight until he knows they are protected. His stomach growls and he picks up the cookie from the coffee table and shoves it in his mouth. "You can call on the way, I'm starving."

Santana rolls her eyes but ushers her son and Charlie out of the apartment, grabbing her purse just in case Charlie forgets mundane currency again. She practically runs into Charlie who stopped short in the middle of the hallway, staring at a coin in his palm that seems to be vibrating softly.

"What's that?" Antonio asks, he's seen the coin before but it's never done that before.

Santana frowns, she's seen protective wards before but didn't realize Charlie had them around the shop. "Charlie?"

"Both of you. Wait here." Charlie commands, darting down the stairs without a backward glance. His alarms had been tripped again—even if this was different.

His urgency makes Santana frown. "Antonio, stay right here." She repeats Charlie's command before following after him. What the hell had he gotten himself into this time?

"But—"

"Stay." Santana repeated as she followed down the steps and followed Charlie into the store, only to notice that he had once again stopped and was currently facing the shop window. "Please don't let it be some death worm or something insane like that." Santana mumbled under her breath.

Charlie flicked his eyes towards Santana as the electricity crackled off his fingers, "Don't be silly Santana. Death worms cause earthquakes," He rolled his eyes at this and studied the people outside his shop. They felt off, magic that hadn't been untapped—almost like Santana. Perhaps if his new custom wards had been created when Santana had applied she would have set off his alarms as well. They had enough magic even if it was raw and untouched to set off his wards and far more importantly they weren't here in goodwill. It had been a piece of brilliant ward making with Brittany, the only time he needed her expertise. "I don't know them," he says after a moment. He didn't know most magicians in his graduating class. He knew enough that he wasn't particularly popular but there were very few people who hated him.

Santana peers past them and freezes as she stares. "I—"

Charlie flicks his eyes towards Santana, and then back at the strange people at the entrance of the store. They seemed to know who Santana was and they were focused on her. "I can make them go away." He says after a moment turning his attention back to them. "Who are they?"

Santana blinks and takes a step back not sure what she wants to do, "They're my parents," she manages after a moment. Her mind immediately going back to Antonio. "I—he's never met them and they wanted me to get rid of him—you know through—or you know giving him up. And I couldn't fuck I couldn't he's my baby and maybe he would have had an easier life but he's my baby." Sebastian it had to be Sebastian, he had called her parents and given them the information that they needed to find her.

"I can make them go away." Charlie repeats slowly. He's not quite sure how he is supposed to handle this, but he feels himself relax. These people—Santana's parents must have tripped the wards last night too. That meant that Santana and Antonio were not at risk for an imminent threat.

"No." She blows out a breath tiredly. It really is too early for this. "I should hear them out, at least get this over with. Otherwise they'll just keep coming back until they've said what they want to say."

Charlie frowns and looks at his coin again. "Your family has magic, enough to trip my alarms. It's possible that someone in your family simply ended up like Mike, and just didn't inherit any magic. It happens, magic sometimes skips a generation. Though it's rare to simply go and live life as a mundane." He closes his fist and pockets the coin, looking at Santana. "They have magic, but they're like you they've never used it, and more importantly they're intentions are less than pure. It's possible that they tripped the alarm last night, which means I need to rework the wards."

Santana nods, "I'm sorry—I didn't—they haven't talked to me in years and I didn't even think that they knew where I was. Maybe I should have let you turn Sebastian into a slug," Santana sighs, looking at her parents. Her mother points to the door but she doesn't move to open it. "What do you think they want?"

"Whenever my parents show up unexpectedly it's to lecture me about my life decisions, or to tell me that I should stop making fun of Quinn or blowing up her front door, or that I should be happy that Quinn and Brittany stole my assistants." Charlie made a face. "It's probably the first one unless you have siblings who take your things."

The words seem to pull Santana out of her stunned state and she narrows her eyes at him. "Your things?"

"Yes. Quinn always took my stuff; I imagine taking my assistant was the next logical step." Charlie responds as if he didn't say anything wrong.

"I'm not a thing."

"Of course you aren't you're a person and more importantly my assistant. Which makes you quite valuable. I'm sure that in a year or two that there will be other magicians attempting to poach you from me." Charlie sniffed in an irritated fashion.

Santana shakes her head; she wasn't going anywhere. As much as Charlie drove her crazy and was a giant weirdo Antonio adored Charlie, and seeing how much he was trying to keep them safe like he promised—she doubted that there was another magician quite like Charlie. "Well, when it comes to that I imagine we can renegotiate our contract."

"I give you free dwarf-sitting! I'm not paying you a penny more."

Santana rolled her eyes, she didn't need more money, "I'm aware," Santana says after a moment, she was simply going to negotiate the silly cookie deal that she had with him. As far as she was concerned he had a cookie addiction. "Speaking of the dwarf—Antonio—you really need to stop calling him a dwarf—"

"Never. He's a hairless dwarf."

"He's a child."

"I don't understand what the difference is. They're both loud, smelly and have tiny hands."

Santana opened her mouth and then closed it. "I actually believe you. Which is why it's odd that I'm going to ask you to take Antonio to the diner. Please—he's a good kid and I don't want him to know that his grandparents, the people who are supposed to love him and spoil him, think that he shouldn't exist. Are ashamed of him or me. I just—"

Charlie studied her for a moment and then glances at her parents for a moment. "Alright. When you're done you can join us. Do you want the French Toast?"

Santana resists the urge to shoot him a grateful smile, he probably didn't even realize that he was being nice, but she was grateful. "Yeah I think I'd like that." She admits after a moment.

Charlie nods and reaches over to pat Santana's arm, "Just do what I do when people talk to me, work out complicated magical problems in your head and nod and go 'yes' occasionally to make it seem like you're listening."

Santana opened her mouth and then closed it. She believed him when he said that as well. She waits until he pulls away and heads back to be with Antonio before moving towards the door to let her parents in. She could already feel the lump in her throat and even though she had been on her own for nearly six years making adult decisions and being an adult the look on their faces made her feel like a child.


	17. Chapter 17

"Is mom going to be here soon?" Antonio asked struggling to keep up with Charlie's long legs.

Charlie tilts his head and pauses for a moment realizing that Antonio was lagging behind. He had forgotten that he had short stubby legs like a dwarf. He waits momentarily for Antonio to catch up and tilts his head. He had simply been lost in thought. "She has some business to attend to, so I'm buying you breakfast."

Antonio grinned, he could get whatever he wanted when Mr. Charlie took him out to eat. He could have pancakes _and_ French toast. His mom always made him pick one, plus he got to drink as much juice as he wanted. "Okay." Today was the best day ever. He didn't have to go to school he got to spend time with Mr, Charlie and they were going to the _zoo_.

"And giving you your first magic lesson." Charlie adds after a moment.

Antonio nearly tripped at that, his eyes widening. " _Really_? Are you going to teach me to shoot fire from my hands or—or do that lightning thing you do or—those magic tricks you showed my class? Or can I make things fly—can I turn into a _dragon_?"

"No. I'm going to teach you how to protect yourself and your mom. I think that's far more important than learning how to levitate things don't you?"

Antonio nods seriously, that did sound super important. "I thought you said that I shouldn't use magic until I was older?"

"Yes. I did. Which is why all I'm going to do today is teach you how to draw a ward, a powerful ward that will keep you safe in case I'm not around to do it. It's not something you can just play around with Antonio. It's only for emergencies."

"Like 9-1-1."

"I don't know what that is."

Antonio stopped. "You don't know what 9-1-1 is?"

"No. Should I?" Charlie asks.

"You're supposed to call them if there's an emergency. They'll send an ambulance if you're hurt or a fire truck if there's a fire, or a police car if you're in danger. Magician's don't use 911?"

"I don't use 911. I can put out my own fires, and I don't trust Quinn to come and save me. She'd probably be late."

"You got hurt remember and we had to call someone to come fix you."

"And it cost me an arm and a leg," Charlie grumbled. "Yes, I do make use of emergency magician healers. I'm not a very good healer. I don't have a talent for it like my mother does. Who knows maybe you'll get a talent like mine or perhaps you'll get a talent like your mother's."

"Her third-eye?"

"Yes, I imagine it would be psychic type like Brittany. But the moment your magic comes in properly then we'll see what your talent is."

"I want to be able to shoot fireballs."

"Elemental types like me and Quinn are rare. But, who knows?" Charlie says after a moment. Antonio could be so much more than just an elemental type. He opens the door to the diner for him and watches him enter. Charlie turns to Sheila who immediately smiles at him. "We need a coloring book and those crayons," He informs her not even bothering to say hello as he takes his usual booth. Antonio sitting across from him.

Sheila nods and heads over, "Babysitting again?"

Antonio huffed at the term as Charlie took the crayons from her. "Of course not. I don't like babies," Charlie responds flipping the paper placemat over so he could begin to draw the ward. "We're going to need more paper."

"I'll have the pancakes _and_ the French toast please—oh and some apple juice," Antonio informs Sheila who immediately writes down his order.

"The usual?" Sheila asks turning to Charlie.

"Yes, oh—right the usual." Charlie mumbled without looking up. Crayons were hardly the best instrument to draw wards with. He looks up at Sheila, "Can I borrow a pen? I need to teach the boy magic."

Sheila smiled and immediately handed him one of her spares. "There you go anything else?"

"Oh. Yes, actually, there is something else. Santana will probably be joining us so can you get a plate of French toast?" Charlie adds after a moment. "She would have taken my plate and then I'd be hungry before lunch. Now. Let's get back to your magic lesson. How good at you at drawing?"

"My mom says I'm really good at it, but I know I'm not. She can't even tell when I draw her a picture of Spot. She thinks it's a dog."

Charlie raised a brow and handed him a pen and watched Antonio draw for a few moments. He tilts his head when Antonio finishes and stares at the picture. "You're right you are terrible at drawing."

Antonio scowls at him and puts the paper down. "Does that mean I can't do magic?"

"Don't worry I was terrible at drawing as well, I still am," Charlie informs him. "That's why most magician's _cheat_."

Antonio frowns, "Mom says cheating is bad."

"Your mother also says that I can't do magic _on_ you, unless it's an emergency. So you're stuck doing it the old fashion way. Practicing drawing circles until you can make a perfect one in your sleep." Charlie responds.

Antonio's eyes widen. That seemed like a lot of work. "I think I'd rather cheat."

"Well, your mom thinks that cheating is bad, and I'm not allowed to do magic on you so we're stuck practicing. It's important that you learn how to draw this perfectly. How are you going to summon dragons or other things if you can't draw a simple circle?" Charlie asked.

Antonio opened his mouth to protest for a moment before closing it and concentrating hard as he attempted to draw a circle like Charlie's. He sticks out his tongue as he concentrates and finally finishes handing the paper back to Charlie waiting for him to grade it.

Charlie stares at the terrible circle in front of him and then back at Antonio and then back at the circle. Of all the days to forget his flashcards. He decided to go with blunt honesty. "This is a terrible circle." Antonio's face fell at his criticism. "If you tried to summon a dragon through this circle it wouldn't go well at all. You might lose a finger. Or three. Then you can't be a _good_ magician."

"I don't want to lose a finger!" Antonio shouts grasping at his fingers.

"Then you need to do better, I don't want you to lose a finger either your mother would kill me."

Antonio nods, "I thought you were teaching me how to draw wards?"

"Oh right, summoning comes later. Wards are simpler to draw but you have to make it _perfect_. You're still going to have to practice _a lot_. If you want to be an _excellent_ magician like me, it takes a lot of hard work. I want you to be an excellent magician Antonio. So I'm not going to baby you okay? You know what happens when you baby a magician?"

"What?"

"They turn out like Quinn." Charlie sniffed at this. So much wasted potential there.

Antonio laughs and picks up his pen, "Mrs. Rachel said that Mrs. Quinn was a really strong magician."

"Antonio, you're going to run into _plenty_ of strong magicians, some of which will be stronger than you. But power isn't everything. You need to know how to _wield_ the power you do have properly and be smarter, and who knows maybe one day you will be able to beat me."

"Really? I'll be able to beat you in magic?"

Charlie raised a brow. He wasn't much for lying but the dwarf looked rather eager. "Well, not if you can't draw a perfect circle." He says after and it seems to be the right thing to say as Antonio picks up the pen and tries again.

~O~

Maribel frowns as she looks around Santana's apartment. "You live here?" She asks, eyeing the granite countertops and the travertine tile floor pointedly. Her mom always had an eye for designer furniture.

"Yeah, I live here." Santana crosses her arms and tries not to wither under her mother's calculating gaze. Just because she didn't go to college didn't mean she wasn't capable of taking care of her son.

"Alone?" Carlos scoffs.

"No, Papi." Santana drops all pretense that this conversation is going to go well. "I live here with my _son_. But yes. The _two_ of us live here alone."

"And you think a man pays someone like you enough money to live in a place like this just to be his receptionist?"

"I'm the _manager_ of his shop." Santana corrects. "And what? You think he wants to fuck me? Well the jokes on you, Papi because I'm fairly certain that Charlie wouldn't know what to do with his penis if he ever got the chance."

"A manager of a _magic_ shop." Maribel laughs humorlessly. "Come now Santana, we taught you better than that."

Santana gritted her teeth, her parents wouldn't last a day doing her job. "Charlie—might be odd but he's a good person and more importantly he's a fantastic magician. Not only that but Antonio loves spending time with him and he enjoys spending time with Antonio." At least she thought he did, it was hard to tell with Charlie sometimes. "I don't know why you're here. You've made it perfectly clear that you wanted nothing to do with Antonio—"

"We were fine when you wanted to run off and prove yourself, but flaunting your mistake for the rest of the world to see is an _embarrassment_ to this family. Parading that child of yours in front of _Russell Fabray_ is something that we can't even ignore—"

"That's what this is about? He talked to you about this?" There was a hint of betrayal in her voice, Russell hadn't seemed like the type of person—he had seemed so interested in Antonio the entire family had.

"Of course not, but Sebastian has been having a hard time at work because he's fallen out of favor with him. If you wish to ruin your life, and make terrible choices but to drag someone else down?"

Santana nearly sighed in relief, she hadn't been wrong about the Fabray family. "Sebastian? You mean Antonio's sperm donor?" Santana said flatly. "Russell didn't even _know_ his name, not to mention Sebastian insulted his son in front of him. Maybe, it's highly likely that Russell Fabray isn't as judgmental as you are." That was a lie, it seemed Russell did have it in him, he didn't like Rachel or Mike but that was only because he believed that no one was good enough for his girls. In Charlie's case, she was sure Russell would just be happy if his son showed an interest in women or men, or at this point dwarves. He was willing to scrape the bottom of the barrel for Charlie. "Or maybe he doesn't like the idea that a man would deny his responsibility to make his life easier. Russell _likes_ Antonio, and I think he likes me as well. He offered me a job. So at least _someone_ sees that I'm not—useless because I had a kid out of wedlock."

"You're a single mother, who didn't graduate from high school. You didn't go to university, and you're working in a _dead end job_. Russell probably offered you a job so you wouldn't be anywhere near his son. From what Sebastian has told us and from what we can witness he's probably a bit slow." Maribel reminds her.

"Your mother is being polite, a grown man playing _make-believe_? He's probably a retard." Carlos sneers. No wonder Russell didn't mention him, he probably paid to have this store running.

Santana's fists tightened and she stared at her parents angrily. Charlie was socially awkward and uninterested in dealing with people that he deemed too slow. He didn't _enjoy_ having to stop and explain himself to people who should be able to keep up, he didn't have the patience for it. Yet even though he hated it, he stopped and taught Antonio and answered questions that she might have. "First off, he's a genius. He doesn't have time for people and that makes him socially awkward, but he's making an attempt at fixing it. Something he shouldn't have to do just to make people like you _comfortable_. Second of all, you're both fucking assholes and I want you out of my apartment. I don't want Antonio to have anything to do with you."

" _You_ don't talk to us like that." Carlos pointed at her, his voice taking on that same authoritative tone it used to have when she was younger. "We are your parents. So I'll tell you how this is going to go. You're going to pack everything you own. If I need to, I'll pay for some movers to help. Then you're going to stop embarrassing this family and go back to school. You can start working at your mother's law firm part time in the filing department—"

" _Filing?_ Really? You want me to do the same job I did when I was thirteen?"

"I have no confidence you'll be any better at this than you were when you were thirteen."

"You may be my parents, but I'm not a child anymore. I've been an adult and I've been on my own since I was sixteen and you kicked me out. Antonio is my child and I will do everything and anything in my power to protect him if that means keeping him away from the two of you then so be it. I know he'd _hate_ being in that house. I did. I like my job, I make a decent salary and my boss isn't a giant gaping asshole. So _no_. I'm not going with you. I'm _telling you_ that you need to get the hell out of my apartment before I call the cops and have them remove you. How do you think that will play with your snobby as fuck friends? Now excuse me. I'm going to go join my _boss_ and my son and have breakfast. So get the fuck out." Santana swallows standing her ground.

"If you think this is over Santana—"

" _Get out_!" Santana repeated putting emphasis on the word. She wanted them gone. She needed them gone, and after one harsher judgmental look they storm out. She waits for a moment and then another until she's sure that they've left the building before breaking, crumpling to her knees. She just needed a moment or two collect herself. Antonio needed her to be strong and she sure as hell wasn't going to break in front of Charlie. He'd probably have a coronary or something not knowing what to do. The thought of that is enough to bring a small smile to her face and she laughs and rubs her face. She wasn't going to have a nervous breakdown because of _them_.

There's a small hissing sound and she looks up at Spot who had managed to get herself on top of the cabinets again. Santana sighed and pushed herself up, trying not to laugh at the dragon who seemed annoyed. An animal that could fly that was afraid of heights, who would have thought. "You have wings." She shakes her head and gets the step-stool so she could reach up to get the dragon.

How in the world could she ever go back to a _regular_ life after seeing all this? There was nothing her parents could do that would make her even consider going back.


	18. Chapter 18

"I can't believe we're going to see _dragons_! _"_ Antonio shouted a huge grin on his face. He was about to race away down the hidden path that Charlie had taken them to, so that he could start exploring when he feels a firm hand on his shoulder. He turns and looks up at Charlie who was holding onto him. He tries to pull away only to feel Charlie tighten his grip.

"Antonio, there are various creatures here that _will_ eat you. Which means that you shouldn't run off." Charlie flicks his eyes towards Antonio, "You're the perfect size to eat."

Antonio's eyes widen in shock at his words, and he looks at his mom a look of disbelief etched onto his features. Santana sighs and runs a hand through his hair, "Mijo, you need to stick close to Charlie or Brittany okay, this place maybe straight out of Narnia but it's dangerous. So you need to do whatever Charlie says, and listen to him." Santana shifts so she can kneel in front of him and help him zip up his jacket, it was getting cold. "So promise me mijo."

"I promise." Antonio promised hugging his mom tightly, she seemed a bit scared. He pulls away and looks at Charlie who was staring up past the trees a frown on his face. He reaches over and takes his hand holding it tightly. The action causes Charlie to blink and look at him and then his hand. It wasn't his fault, Charlie had super long legs and walked really fast and he had a hard time keeping up. "What are you looking for?"

"Brittany's _feathered beast from hell_." Charlie responds before going back to studying the skyline. The zoo was hidden deep within the forest, a natural habitat for _most_ of inhabitants. It was more of a reserve than an actual zoo, most of the animals were allowed to roam free, certain mythical creatures were simply far too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. _Especially_ Lord Tubbington, the demon monster himself. Charlie was no fool, the second he let his guard down the stupid gryffin would be right there to attack. He _hated_ this place some of the creatures had a weird fascination with him, but Brittany paid him to do interesting magic. "Come on let's go find Brittany and the traitor."

Antonio nods and grips Charlie's hand tighter as they start to walk through the forest. There's something hiding in the forest. As they continue to walk more and more glowing blue eyes start to appear in the tree branches. The hairs on the back of his neck tingle as glowing blue eyes watch them just beyond his view. "Mr. Charlie. Something's watching us."

"I know," Charlie responds irritation in his voice. He continues to walk holding Antonio's hand when he suddenly hears the laughter.

 _'_ ** _Mister Witcher sees us_** ** _._** _'_ A small puff of black smoke that crackles with blue sparks smirks as it appears in front of them. Santana takes a step back but Charlie seems unimpressed as it begins to laugh. ' ** _Hehehe_**.'

"Yes. I do. Now leave us alone." Charlie groans pinching the bridge of his nose, he didn't need the distractions.

"What _is_ that?" Santana tried not to panic. She'd never seen those creatures before, even in all of her studies and times at Brittany's reserve. She glances at Antonio who was staring at the creature unsure of what to do. Charlie just looked relatively annoyed.

"Lightning kin," Charlie supplies and sighs, of course Santana wouldn't know this. It wasn't as if most people understood it either. He wasn't quite sure how it worked himself. He also didn't really care, so there was that. He was sure someone somewhere had written a book about lightning kin. "Also known as storm children, night rattlers, and thunder children."

' ** _Play with Sparkies_**.'

' ** _Missy Witchy-Witch trick sparkies!_** ' Another storm child informed him as it appeared on a branch nearby.

' ** _Shame! Shame! Bad Missy Witchy-Witch!_** ''

Santana blinked and looked at Charlie, it wasn't just the fact that they had pupiless eyes that flashed like lightning and every time that they talked their mouths did the same. Though what creeped her out the most was how they emoted, it was so human in a way, and so childlike. The sound of their voices dug at the back of her mind while also causing her hair to stand on end. But Charlie didn't seem particularly frightened, or even worried, but that didn't mean that she didn't know if they were friend or foe.

Charlie's lip twitched at that, Brittany had clearly been messing around with the night rattlers. He glances over at Santana for a moment when he feels her brush against him. She was scared, they both were. He bends down and extends his hand for one of the storm children and watches wordlessly as it floats into his hand. "Storm children—"

' ** _Sparkies_**.' The storm child interrupts.

Charlie rolls his eyes and lets the small incorporeal being settles into his hand. " _Sparkies_ are created whenever lightning hits the ground. They just exist, nature has all sorts of secrets—wild magic. Natural magic—physical in a sense. These things are attracted to me because apparently I'm a living—'

 _'_ ** _Lightning-boy! Mister lightning-Witcher!_** **'** '

Charlie sighed, and ran a small visible current from his thumb to his pinkie, watching as the Sparkie, or whatever it was that they decided to call themselves today immediately attempted to catch it. The moment it touched the current another one appeared storm child appeared in his hand. It was how they multiplied.

Antonio's eyes widened, "That's _so_ cool, can I hold one?" Antonio asked pulling his hand free from Charlie's so that he could hold it. " _Please_?"

"Antonio, I don't think that's a good idea—" Santana begins, watching in absolute horror as Charlie hands him one of the Sparkies. This had not been one of her better ideas as she felt her heart stop. She could feel the danger in her gut and she had forgotten what Charlie thought of as dangerous was not how normal people perceived danger.

"Whoa! It feels weird, and it—tingles!" Antonio said looking at the creature in awe.

The Sparkie peered back at him before smiling wildly that showed it's flashing white mouth. ' ** _Hello! Hello! Man-child!_** ''

"Hello! Hello! Sparkie," Antonio repeated pleased with himself.

But Santana didn't trust it. There was something she couldn't— "Antonio, get away from that."

"But it's cute mom."

It didn't stop Santana from smacking the thing from his hand, and she watches as it falls to the ground. " _Antonio_ what did I—"

' ** _Shame! Shame! You hurt Sparkie!_** ''

' ** _Bad Missy Seer-Witchy! Mean to poor Sparkies!_** ''

Charlie frowned as the night rattlers began to get agitated and he raised his hand, "Enough, you want to play, then we will," Charlie said with a small frown as he held his hand up and dropped the other Sparkie, "Go find your new Sparkies alright?" Charlie informs them before spinning around so he was facing the opposite direction, he could feel the power building under his fingertips. He flicks his wrist, "Fulgur dolum," he mutters under his breath, watching as the lighting arches before it races down the path, almost immediately and he feels the night rattlers immediately give chase. The lightning suddenly makes a turn at a ninety degree angle and he waits for a moment looking around, but the area was quiet.

Santana swallows and turns to Charlie angrily, "We just talked about this five minutes ago—"

"Mom it's okay, see I'm fine!" Antonio interrupted embarrassed. "They were harmless—"

"The night rattlers are not harmless, but you were safe because they find me far more fascinating," Charlie finally speaks up. He was studying Santana with mild confusion not understanding her irritation. before glancing at Antonio who had taken his hand again.

Santana scowls, she knew what she felt in her gut. "I know what I felt, and I just—I can't explain it. I just felt danger so I reacted," she says defensively. She didn't know why her cheeks were inflamed around him, and she didn't know what they had meant by Seer-Witchy.

"Thunder Children don't see themselves as bad, they just enjoy playing pranks on people, and playing games. But some of their _pranks_ , are dangerous because they really don't know their own strength at times." Charlie lectured. "Sparkies don't _mean_ any harm—"

" _See_." Antonio looks to his mom pointedly. He wasn't some little baby she needed to protect.

"Just because something doesn't mean any harm doesn't mean it's not still dangerous." Santana cautions.

"They do eat people as well." Charlie muses as an afterthought. "So your mom isn't entirely wrong."

"They _eat people_?" Antonio grabs Charlie's hand again and tightens his grip. "You said that they weren't bad!"

"They aren't bad, and they only eat lost travellers that are silly enough to follow them," Charlie added with a shrug and winces when Santana smacks his arm hard. "What?"

"You gave my son something that could eat him."

"A dog can eat him, he's a dwarf. You still let him near dogs I imagine." Charlie responds dryly, "I told you that I'd keep him safe. If I thought it was dangerous I certainly wouldn't have allowed him to hold one." Charlie points out.

"You gave him a fire-breathing dragon as a pet, so excuse me if I think that your decision-making when it comes to what is dangerous is and what isn't is slightly suspect." Santana snipped at him. She would simply have to trust her gut when it came to stuff like this. Charlie clearly couldn't be trusted.

Charlie opened his mouth to argue when the sound of an eagle screeching was heard from above and Charlie visibly winced and ducked. "Now _that_ is something to worry about. Come along we need to get too—"

It only takes a second for Lord Tubbington to land hard on the ground in front of them immediately squawking loudly and immediately lunging for him only to be pulled back by Brittany quickly, "What's up Chuck?" Brittany laughs at her own joke and shifts so she can get off the back of Lord Tubbington. She flicks her eyes to Antonio. "You brought Antonio!"

Charlie eyed Lord Tubbington, not taking his eyes off the beast. "I'm still unsure how that—thing can fly," he mumbles to himself stumbling back when Lord Tubbington lunges at him. He immediately brings his hand up to defend himself but Brittany shifts so she's in between them.

"He flaps his wings." She answers quickly, petting Lord Tubbington quickly, trying to soften his mood. "But maybe if you didn't insult him every single time you see him, he wouldn't get so defensive."

"He's _obese_." Charlie points out, scowling when the gryphon snaps in his general direction. The animal's belly jiggles at the movement and Charlie shakes his head.

"Be nice." Brittany stresses and even though he's not sure if she's talking to Lord Tubbington or the _bird brain_ over there. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Something tripped my wards," Charlie responds easily pulling Antonio back from getting a better look. "Or someone, I needed to go over them with you."

"So you brought the entire family?" Brittany asks bending over. "It's okay Tony, Lord Tubbington won't hurt you. He just really doesn't like Charlie."

"He sliced open my arm and ate my pet dragon!" Charlie reminds her.

"You insult him, and Lord Tubbington is very sensitive about his weight." Brittany informs him. "If it's okay with your mom maybe we can go on a ride—"

"No." Santana says immediately. "Not okay."

Brittany pulls a face but doesn't comment, "—but why don't you and your mom look around while I help Charlie with his homework?"

"They're staying with me; they didn't know about the lightning kin Brittany. If they get lost—"

"Right yeah, bad idea. I can have Mike take you around the grounds or—"

"As much as I trust Mike, I think I want the living lightning bolt over here to stick around just in case things get hairy. There aren't any cages and I don't want Antonio getting hurt."

"I promised to take him to see the dragons," Charlie adds after Antonio tugs on his hand. "But the wards something was off because nothing has ever tripped a full alarm like that before."

Brittany sighed, "Fine I'll help you, though I did tell you that you make them far too sensitive for it to be of any use," she turns to look at Lord Tubbington when she stops and stares at Santana squinting for a moment. Something was off, slightly., though it could be because Santana felt anxious. But it felt—different somehow. "Alright I'll take you back to my place, Mike has all the latest video games and he won't mind playing with you Antonio until I help Charlie figure out what's wrong," Brittany said shaking her head and turning to Lord Tubbington. "Shouldn't take long."

Santana blew out a breath, feeling the sell of anxiety start to uncoil a little.

~O~

After working through the wards, Charlie was confident that there wasn't anything wrong with his wards. Maybe they were tripped by accident, but there were thankfully no parts he had overlooked. "I am still the best magician in the world," he informed Santana who was watching Mike play with Antonio from the couch. She seemed to be less anxious now.

Santana glanced over at Brittany who rolled her eyes and smiled for a moment, "Did you fix what was wrong?"

"There wasn't anything wrong, it was probably what I expected originally," Charlie replied.

Santana frowned, it had probably been her parents who had tripped the damn alarm then. That didn't make her feel any better, now that she could think about it. She wasn't sure what their plan was or what they planned to do when it came to Antonio but she wouldn't let her parents take him away from her. She would start looking for good lawyers just to make sure that Antonio was protected. "I'm sorry my parents caused all of this."

Charlie shrugged, "It's fine, but I promised the dwarf I'd take him to see the dragons. So come along Antonio, we've got to see the dragons, though they'll probably be asleep at this time."

Antonio turned to look at his mom and then Charlie. "Do they all breathe fire too?"

"No, some of them spit acid, others have frost breath—"

"Joy," Santana said flatly as she watched her son eyes widen, they were in a death trap. She didn't even know why she had agreed to this. This whole place gave her the creeps and she was worried. At least Charlie seemed to acknowledge her nerves and was taking the correct steps. He was quick to react despite the fact that she occasionally wondered if he was a bit slow.

"Don't worry the wards are the strongest around the dangerous animal pens, they're one of the few that are contained. We take safety very seriously here, there hasn't been an incident in—" Brittany turns to Mike.

"Six years," Mike supplied. "There was only one and we _learned_ from that."

"What about Lord Tubbington attacking Charlie?" Santana reminded her.

"They were just playing. They've been like that since they were children." Brittany says waving away Santana's concern. "They're like brothers."

"No. We're not. That thing is trying to kill me."

"Lord Tubbington isn't trying to _kill_ you, he's just lashing out because he's sensitive about his weight and you make fun of him. Gryphons are _exceptionally_ intelligent and they understand us you know," Brittany says immediately defending her beloved pet. She scowls when even Mike doesn't take her side, she would make sure he was going to be shovelling unicorn poop for weeks. "Alright we've got six dragons, two wyvern's, four drakes and—well you'll see. All of these guys need to be contained because they _really_ can't roam free."

"What are wyverns?" Antonio asks.

"Well—" Mike begins as they stand up and takes Antonio's hand as they walk out of Brittany's cabin, Santana was close on their heels. "A wyvern is basically in the same family as dragons, it has a dragon head, a similar body to the dragon as well, the difference is that it has two legs instead of four and it has a tail. Most of the ones found today have a fish tail instead of a barbed dragon's tail, but we have both. It took both Charlie and Quinn to bring the beast in alive."

"Really? What's that story?" Antonio asked. Mr. Charlie had the _best_ adventures. He didn't know why he didn't tell him more of them. He certainly knew what his next story was going to be about in school.

"There _is_ no story." Charlie furrows his brow and looks at Brittany pointedly.

Santana looks between the two Fabray's curiously. There was something they weren't saying.

"Oh come on, Chuck. It's a great story. Mike, why don't you tell them how awesome it was." Brittany grinned, pulling Charlie by his elbow.

Santana notices but is glad when they don't move too far away. She's tempted to eavesdrop, but Brittany clearly wants to give Charlie a piece of her mind. She assumes that's probably torture enough for Charlie and moves in to hear Mike's tale.

"So what's this about you not helping Quinn?" Brittany asks lowly.

Charlie rolls his eyes. "I turned down work. It's hardly a big deal."

"You turned down work with _Quinn_." Brittany points out.

"Bounty hunter work is beneath me and I tire of being the judge, jury, and executioner."

"And it's not beneath Quinn?"

"No. Quinn's perfectly suited for magical parking tickets and law enforcement."

"I would have thought you'd love that with your god-complex." Brittany rolls her eyes. "You're so good at maiming first and asking questions later."

Charlie's eyes harden. "He deserved that."

Brittany blows out a frustrated breath. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." She's frustrated and tired and hates it when Quinn is upset. It reminds her of—

"Then why did you say it?"

"He was your friend—"

"Quinn is my sister, and you know very well I would have done the same if it had happened to you. Besides, you're the one that wiped her memory. If anything the reason why Quinn is a terrible magician has more to do with—"

"I was eighteen and she wanted it, and you know that no one else has the skill to do it. I'm not even sure I _could_ do it again. It's as complicated as _brain_ surgery." Brittany says defensively. "There may have been—consequences that I didn't know or think about." She puffs out her cheeks for a moment. "You're the one that says she's a terrible magician."

"Which she is."

"She does her best." Brittany points out, not bothering to disagree with him. It hadn't always been that way, but— "Maybe you should give her a break."

"I _gave_ her my assistant."

Brittany rolled her eyes, of course that was where he went. There were times she wondered if he grew up. "Right you _gave_ her Rachel, just like you _gave_ me Mike." She flicks her eyes to Santana for a moment and then Antonio before looking at her younger brother, he was busy watching their surroundings like a hawk. "I guess I get it. You have your own family to take care of."

"The brownies won't feed themselves," Charlie responded immediately.

"Wasn't talking about your brownies," Brittany shakes her head and smiles before pulling away from him to go and soothe Santana. That anxiety was back again. Maybe it was a mother thing, and her parents wondered when they were getting grandkids. The idea was enough to make her laugh. "Don't worry you have both me and Charlie making sure Antonio is safe and we spent weeks designing the best wards. This place is safe," Brittany soothed, touching Santana's arm, her words laced with magic. She saw Charlie tilt his head at her and frown for a moment before shrugging and letting it go. Being this scared around the creatures wasn't good it made them restless.


	19. Chapter 19

She had always told herself she wasn't going to be one of those creepy parents who watched their child sleep, but here she was doing just that. Watching as Spot hopped onto the giant rock that Antonio kept beside his bed on the nightstand. Today had _not_ been a good day, and the anxiety she had been feeling since the previous night hadn't subsided. Though that probably had _more_ to do with her parents re-entering her life. She was at a loss for what to do, because there was no way that it was over. Her father and mother were very _determined_ people. She didn't know any lawyers, and she didn't want to involve the Fabray family anymore than she had already done so.

At least Antonio had fun today despite the fact that she'd nearly had a heart attack when one of the big dragons approached their group. Another creature that seemed to love Charlie, but it meant that Antonio had gotten to pet a dragon that was bigger than he was. He had been scared at first but both Charlie and Brittany had been there in case anything went wrong and he had put his hand on the dragon's snout and pet it. He had spent the rest of the day _talking_ about it. Wondering if next time he'd be able to fly the thing. The answer to that question was _no_. He had his own pet dragon.

She smiled, Charlie had been right. There was something special about a boy and his dragon, and even though she was still annoyed with him for handing Antonio a pet without her permission, she had to admit that it was fun to watch her son's relationship with his dragon. Spot had listened to Antonio go on and on about dragons for five minutes before getting bored and attempting to fly away. But of course Antonio had followed her chatting away, completely missing the point until Spot had blown smoke at him. Just watching the two of them had brought a smile to her face and she wondered if Charlie had been similar.

With a sigh, she pulls away from Antonio's door closing the door so that the light from the hallway wouldn't disturb him and heads the living room, for once not knowing what to do with herself. She lived above her place of employment, and it's not like she had a lot of work to do. Which meant that after Antonio went to bed her nights were generally free and tonight she didn't feel like watching some silly reality television show or the news. Maybe she should go and get her brand new laptop from the store and start doing some research for family law lawyers. It would make her feel better to know that she had taken care of it, and money at this point wasn't really a problem.

She grabs her keys to the store hoping to god that there wasn't some creepy shit in the store that Charlie had _'forgotten'_ to lock up. It wouldn't matter if he forgot he'd get irritated and blame her for spooking it. The whole thing was infuriating. She pulls the door open to her front door and notes the bright light that came from under Charlie's door. She's about to move past it when something small and furry moves in her peripheral vision causing her to stumble back. She tracks it moving across the ground for a few seconds before it disappears.

Mice. Charlie had damn _mice_ in his building, and it was no wonder with the jars of honey and jam that he left out in the open. Brownies, he claimed but she was beginning to doubt that. She shakes her head and immediately heads to Charlie's door and opens the door without knocking, just to give him a heads up.

She didn't have to worry about his door being locked. Charlie _never_ locked his door, he believed that it was dangerous for his attention to shift even for a second if he was in the middle of a spell. She personally believed it was for Antonio to come and go as he pleased without needing to knock, and she was grateful that his door was always opened to her son. Antonio appreciated it as well, but he had learned to stay quiet if Charlie seemed to be in the middle of doing magic. Which judging from the silence in his apartment, he wasn't.

"Hey Charlie I think we have—" Santana trails off as she stares at her boss sitting on his couch reading one of the many files that she had seen littering his work space and his kitchen table, in only some black silk pajama bottoms. His hair was wet and she could see the water dripping down his neck and onto his bare chest which was surprisingly well-defined for someone who spent most of his time eating an obscene amount of food and reading books. How the hell did he have the beginning of a six pack?

Charlie looks up from what he was reading and closes the folder. "You think we have?" He prompts looking at her. He blinks and looks down at himself, when he notices Santana staring. His cheek flush in embarrassment and he flicks his wrist as a shirt appears and he slips it on. "I apologize. Rachel made it very clear where the line was for sexual harassment."

Santana blinked as Charlie immediately pulled on a shirt. "It's fine. It's your apartment you're allowed to walk around without a shirt in fact—" she stops for a moment. Charlie was—Charlie teasing him would probably most likely go over his head. "I'm just here to talk about the fact that I think I saw a mouse."

"You didn't, you probably saw the Brownies, they're very _timid_. You probably spooked them."

"It was furry."

"Brownies _are_ furry." Charlie looks up at her and raises a brow. "Are you okay? I only ask because knowing what a Brownie looks like is basic knowledge and considering we share a home with them, I had simply assumed that you had taken the time to meet with them. At the very least thank them. I mean who do you think keeps the store clean?"

Santana scowls at him and opens her mouth to defend herself but nothing really comes out and she shrugs, "I—it's just been a _long_ day."

Charlie motions for Santana to take a seat beside him, "It has," he agrees, he studies her for a moment as she takes a seat on his couch. "Dealing with family is _trying_."

It was nice, he was trying to be polite about it but she wasn't didn't want to hear it. "My parents aren't—they're not like yours. They're about—optics. Having their only daughter get pregnant at sixteen, becoming a single mother who works at a magic shop? It's not good optics. I mean your parents—"

"They care about the optics; despite what you may think. My father's displeasure with Mike and Rachel have more to do with the fact that they do not come from _pure_ families. Which means that any niece and or nephew that may show up in the future will not be as powerful as we are. My mother on the other hand doesn't care she just wants grandchildren, preferably ones that aren't as powerful as the three of us were when we were children." Charlie raises his hand and starts a current, that sparks and dances in front of Santana. "Now imagine if the dwarf had powers like these when he was two or three."

Santana shudders at the thought, Antonio had gone through his terrible twos, but at least he hadn't been able to do _magic_. "That's— _different_."

"Is it?" Charlie questions.

"Yes. It is. Your father may not like Rachel and Mike, but he doesn't _threaten_ Quinn or Brittany—or you. He doesn't make you feel—"

"Insignificant?" Charlie scoffed. "Of course he does. My father may be many things, but he does not tolerate ineptitude."

Santana frowns. "Still, it's not the same."

"I guess it's not." Charlie allows. "Your parents seemed particularly obsessed with being ordinary and mundane. It's no wonder you had problems accessing your powers. Now that I've met them, it all makes a sort of sense." He had no doubt that Santana's entire family probably had some latent magical abilities but it was a shame that she hadn't had access to training at a young age. She likely would be someone whose abilities could rival his own.

Santana nods, surprised that Charlie actually seems to get it. With a brief hesitation, she admits, "I think they're going to try and take Antonio away." It's been her worst fear for a long time but she's sure that her parents aren't going to stop unless they get their way.

"I'm not going to let that happen."

"You don't know my parents."

"No, I don't. But I'm still not going to let that happen. Antonio is going to be a _magician_. He can't go back to living a normal ordinary _mundane_ life. He'll never be happy. He's going to do _great_ things. So, I'm not going to let that happen. If I need to turn your parents into slugs—"

Santana laughs and places her hand on his, "No. You're terrible at transmogrification. I don't want them to explode Charlie."

"I see." Charlie responded.

"I was going to find a lawyer and maybe get the best one to represent me," Santana admits. "So I'm just going to get my laptop and do some research for the best family lawyer in the city. I might need some time to talk to a few lawyers but I'll let you know before I leave you alone alright?"

Charlie nods and glances down at his hand realizing that Santana's hand was still in his. He frowns slightly, it felt nice in an odd way. Though he was more concerned about the stomach discomfort that he felt, perhaps a snack would help alleviate the sudden discomfort. He pulls his hand away, and looks at Santana. "If you need anything."

"I'll be sure to let you know." She agrees. For a minute it's like the panicked anxiety that's coiled low in her stomach unwinds a little. "But I think it's probably time for me to try to get some sleep."

Charlie nods, "I'm going to get a snack and then I've got some work to take a look at," Charlie motions to the manila folder on his lap.

Santana nods, "Thanks for the talk Charlie," she says after a moment before pushing herself into a standing position. She looks back at Charlie who gives her a quick nod. It was all she was probably going to get and he was probably back in his own little world again. She shakes her head. He really was an _odd_ duckling as Brittany said.

~O~

Antonio was _late_. Santana sighed, it probably meant one of three things. He had gotten in trouble, or he was on cleanup duty, or he was simply being social. She really hoped that it was cleanup duty. At least then she probably wouldn't be _horrendously_ late for the meeting that Russell had set up for her with one of the best family lawyers in the city. She should have been annoyed at Charlie for involving his father, but she was also touched that he had attempted to take care of it for her.

She checks her watch again and sighs with relief when Antonio emerges from the building. She almost worries that her parents were going to come and ambush them or—

"Hello again." A familiar voice startles her from her musings.

Despite the fact she doesn't really like him, nor does she have the time for pointless conversation, she smiles politely. "Noah, right."

His grin is almost menacing but he nods enthusiastically. "I was wondering when I would see you again. Tell me you weren't avoiding me."

"Of course not." She lies. She _had_ been avoiding him, but then again it had just been a couple of days and she hasn't really had time to actually worry about it.

"So when are we going to go on our first date?" He asks with pointed interest that she's sure is supposed to be charming.

"I have to take Antonio home and then—"

"I have Beth too, so I _will_ meet you at the diner around the corner in twenty minutes."

Santana was about to scowl at him. She didn't like being told what to do by anyone and she didn't have time for this, for him. She had an important meeting that she needed to get too. But in that moment, the anxiety that she'd been feeling since she met him came back with a vengeance. "Yeah—sure that sounds great—" She informs him and her eyes widen.

Noah studies her for a moment, before frowning slightly. There was panic in her eyes that didn't usually come until later, but he immediately straightens up. "Well, this is interesting," he muses mostly to himself. He hadn't anticipated her being aware of his machinations. "I'll see you at that diner, you'll wear something _nicer_ than what you're wearing," he informed her bluntly reaching to touch her. "But most importantly you'll _smile_ and you'll make sure everyone around you thinks you're _fine_ and you won't tell _anyone_ about this. Not your parents, not your son, none of the Fabray's and definitely not Charlie Fucking Fabray." He snarls the name before pushing a smile onto his face. "Think of an excuse, think of _several_ that won't make him suspicious. I don't really care or what I'm doing to you I _will_ do to your son."

" _Daddy_!"

Noah turns and smiles at the blonde haired little girl who is running towards him with her arms outstretched. "Hey there Beth!" he says in a pleased tone, the anger and the menacing look disappearing immediately as he reached down to wraps his daughter in his arms. He glances at Santana once more and flashes her a smile. "See you soon."

Santana stared at Noah as he winked at her before walking away, wanting to scream or yell or do something but whatever he had done to her—she hadn't seen his hands moving, she hadn't heard any spell words but it was magic. He had used magic on her an _insidious_ form of magic. One that _forced_ her to obey.

"Hey mom! Guess what I did in school today," Antonio said as he finally exited the school. He grins when his mom smiles at him widely. It was a bit weird but maybe she'd had a good day at work and Mr. Charlie had done something cool. "I told everyone about the _dragons_ and how I got to touch one, and then we played kickball and I kicked the ball _really_ hard."

"That's great Tony," Santana tried, she never wanted to worry her son but she couldn't even use him to get help. To talk to Charlie, the words simply wouldn't come out. "We've got to hurry okay Antonio? I have an important meeting soon." It was the best she could do. She would need to figure out how to tell _someone_ anyone.


	20. Chapter 20

Antonio glanced up from where he was sitting doing his homework, Charlie had allowed him to sit where his mom usually worked. He had given him the _important_ responsibility of watching the customers. Though the shop was empty. It was still fun to pretend that he had his own shop like Mr. Charlie and he could wave his hands and summon dragons as pets. Though, Brittany had an awesome job too. She got to play with all the magical animals. He had seen a _unicorn_. It hadn't been very nice though.

Antonio kicked his legs a bit watching as Spot ate her food and reached over to pet her. It was almost his birthday and he hoped that he could have a party for all the kids in his class this year. They could never afford it before, but he was sure his mom wanted to do something. All he knew was that he wanted Mr. Charlie would give another magic show for his friends, he had promised that Mr. Charlie would do some magic. Though if he had a choice between Mr. Charlie doing a magic show or giving him another pet dragon, he would choose the dragon even though he totally knew his mom would say no.

The door to the store opens, jingling and Antonio looks up and smiles at the tall man who lumbers into the store. "Welcome to Pandora's Antique—antiquities," Antonio said in a cheery tone, catching himself. He hoped he had done a good job and he glances over at Spot who had stopped eating and moved closer to him and was staring at the lumbering stranger.

The man lumbered towards the store counter and looked at Antonio squinting his eyes. "I'm going to need bone seed, star shade, kraken scale, wendigo fur and chitine fang." He pulls out a small notepad and looks at it carefully. "Oh! And Naga venom."

Antonio stared at the tall man, his eyes wide. That didn't sound like something that he could help with. "Um—"

"Nice dragon," the man said reaching to pet Spot only for Spot to immediately blow a fireball at him.

" _Spot no_!" Antonio yelled horrified, he was going to get in so much trouble. He immediately tried to pick up his pet only for Spot to flex her wings, and stand on her hind quarters trying to make herself seem bigger. It was enough to cause the man to take a reflexive step back and hold his hand up, prepared to blast the creature away. Antonio grabbed his pet and immediately turned his body so that he could protect Spot despite the fact that she immediately struggled against him, her wings smacking him hard as she hissed and spat.

The noise is enough to finally draw Charlie from his workspace and he immediately moves to intervene flicking his wrist at the newcomer sending him flying back and placing his fingers on a spot behind Spot's horns immediately calming her as she stops struggling. He moves to pull Spot away so that he can take a closer look at Antonio, who looked a tad bit frightened by Spot's reaction. He winces when he sees a trail of blood from where one of Spot's claws snagged Antonio's arm. Santana was going to be very angry with him. "Are you alright?"

Antonio nods, as he struggles not to cry in front of Mr. Charlie, watching as the magician knelt down to inspect him carefully. "Spot blew fire at him! I was just trying to stop her from hurting your customer. I'm sorry!" He babbled quickly feeling the hot tears in his eyes.

Charlie hummed and opened one of the drawers and grabbed a jar filled with purple goop and opens it smearing a healthy amount onto Antonio's arm. He crinkles his nose at the smell. "Spot sensed danger, you remember what Brittany taught you about dragons don't you?"

Antonio shook his head; he couldn't remember but maybe it was because he was a tiny bit scared.

Charlie didn't look annoyed at Antonio's inability to remember, he just watched the purple goop working. "You can't just walk up to someone's dragon any dragon and just _pet_ it. They don't like it, especially if you're a tall man asking for dangerous items. Spot sensed that you were in danger and she reacted, you need to let her protect you okay? Because she'll fight you to protect you and that doesn't make much sense does it?" Antonio shook his head and immediately latched his arms around Charlie's neck hugging him tightly. Charlie blinked and patted Antonio's back awkwardly. "Okay, alright. I know. I know," he said before petting Antonio on the head. He wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation, there were no notes for this sort of thing. "We'll go for some ice cream after?"

Antonio sniffled and nodded his head wiping his eyes, with his non-goopy arm. He stares at the goop on his arm and touches it. "What is it?"

"I don't know. My mom makes it," Charlie admits and crinkles his nose. "It's her special formula, we'll talk to her later and ask."

Antonio nods and slides off the chair to go check on Spot, "I'm sorry," he mumbles to his pet. He reaches his hand out slowly and smiles when Spot allows him to pet her head.

Charlie watched for a moment before getting up, a frown on his face as he approached the man who still a bit stunned. His hands sparked as he made his approach. "Who the hell are you?"

The men held up his hands, "I'm Finn. I'm just trying to get a few ingredients and my assistant said that you were the only shop in the area that carried what I needed."

Charlie narrowed his eyes at that most magicians didn't usually go shopping for their own supplies. "I see. And why would you need those items? What exactly do you plan to do with them?" He had the items in stock, but only because he rarely had to undo curses. People had varying views of what magic was, as if it was either good or evil. It wasn't, it just was. It was like a storm, or a wild animal, there was no intent in its existence. But he _knew_ of bad people and he wasn't going to simply give controlled and dangerous magic to some idiot who had approached a dragon without permission.

Finn furrowed his brow and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper to check and make sure he wasn't mistaken. Nope, there they were written down word for word in his own handwriting. He knew that was right because his assistant had checked it three times before he let Finn out of the office. "I'm making a complicated spell. My assistant said these were the ingredients I needed."

Charlie chews the inside of his lip. "I don't have the ingredients you're looking for. Those are _controlled_ substances and I don't deal in that." He said briskly. "Now if you'll please vacate my shop, you've done enough damage, and my assistant is probably going to make me clean this up."

"Can't you just get the dwarf to do it?" He asks, gesturing to Antonio who was still recovering in the corner.

"Dwarf?" Charlie pinches the bridge of his nose. Despite the fact that everyone in his life was fairly certain he didn't know the difference, he could clearly discern a child from a dwarf. He just liked to play up his natural awkwardness in the hopes that they would all leave him alone. But whoever this charlatan of a magician was, he was an embarrassment to the craft. "He's a child."

"Oh." Finn said scratching his cheek. "Well your son then, can't you make him clean up? That's why people have kids."

Charlie twitched, "I already told you to that I don't have the items that you require. Now _perhaps_ you should leave before I am forced to throw you out of my shop." He didn't want Santana to start yelling at him about showing Antonio it was okay to use force, but this whole thing didn't sit right with him.

"Alright. Alright." Finn said getting himself up. "You know, I think you'd get more customers if you were nicer," he throws over his shoulder as he opens the door. He pauses and stares at the short woman who had just been about to enter the store. "Hey, I uh—think they're closed." He offers her.

She rolls her eyes but smiles apologetically. "Of course they are. Please feel free to come another day." She doesn't turn around before storming into the shop and slamming the door behind her.

Finn frowned. That hadn't gone quite like he expected. His assistant would have to move to plan B, whatever that was.

Rachel enters the store and stares at the mess, "What in the world?"

Charlie turns to Rachel from where he is bent over looking at Antonio's arm. He studies for a moment, "I've got everything under control."

" _Really_. That's what you're going with," Rachel moved over to take a closer look at Antonio. "Are you okay?"

Antonio nods, "Yeah, Spot just scratched me but it was an accident," he promises holding up his goop covered arm. "Mr. Charlie said that he'd take me for ice cream."

Rachel flicked her eyes over the mess, it wasn't just anything. "I can take you for ice cream Antonio, Charlie has a job—"

"No. I don't. Santana's not back yet, and given what happened today I promised Antonio that _I_ would take him out for ice cream. I also promised Santana that _I_ would watch him. I haven't done a very good job of that." He muses.

Antonio shrugs before smiling at him. "I won't tell mom if you promise to perform magic at my birthday party!"

Charlie shrugged, "Okay."

Rachel blinked. "Not okay! You can't do magic in front of a bunch of mundanes!"

"I do magic in front of you and Mike all the time," Charlie points out watching as Rachel flushes angrily.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. You know very well it's against the rules."

"Yes, raising the dead and reattaching limbs in front of mundanes is illegal, I'm doing card tricks. People think it's fake. It's all perfectly legal."

"No it's not."

"It's close enough."

" _Charlie_. Do you realize how much trouble you can get into?"

"Yes. I don't care." Charlie shrugs. "It's card tricks. The boy wants to see some harmless magic. It's not as if real magician's haven't cashed in on 'illusions' before."

"That's not the point Charlie. Your sister is in magical law enforcement. You really think you would just get a _free pass_?"

Charlie shrugs. "Like she could stop me even if she wanted to." He hums, and looks at Antonio who is looking at him curiously. "Quinn needs my help with something I imagine?"

"She does, which is why I'm here. I thought that I could watch the store."

"No. I'll wait until Santana is back. I'm not letting the dwarf out of my sight. Quinn can wait. I don't like it. My wards get tripped and then some _idiot_ magician comes in and asks for Kraken scale and some other nasty items and you expect me to what drop everything and help her? It's not happening. Something's not right and I don't know what." Charlie grumbles.

"Mr. Charlie, if you're going to get in trouble—"

"It's fine." Charlie promised him and glared at Rachel. Today had started off normal but it was _not_ going well. It probably couldn't get any worse. He sighs when the phone rings and he reaches to pick it up. "Pandora's antiquities hold on—"

 _'_ _Charles if you put me on hold, I will have to come down there and we both don't want that.'_

"Father."

' _Is Santana there? She didn't show up for her meeting with the lawyers and I was under the opinion that this was important. These are important people and they don't like to be kept waiting.'_

"I see." Charlie says keeping his voice even. He didn't like this at all and that irritating discomfort was back in the pit of his abdomen. He was worried. He didn't like the feeling but he knew better than to worry Antonio. "Cancel the meeting for now."

' _Charles_?'

"Something's not quite right and I don't see the bigger picture. I don't like it. I don't like this at all. I need to think. I'll have her call you later." Charlie says ending the call. He turns to Rachel for a moment. She had no magic but she knew his defenses relatively well. "Take Antonio to my apartment and keep him there. Spot—I need you too—"

The door to the store opens and Charlie turns frowning when he sees Santana standing there, staring at the mess of a store. "What _happened_?" She snapped turning to Charlie angrily.

Charlie stares at Santana for a moment. "Nothing?" He says after a moment.

"Then why in the world does Antonio have purple slime on his arm?" Santana snaps at Charlie.

Charlie studies Santana for a moment, he couldn't shake that something was wrong, but he scratches the back of his head. "We had a rather unruly customer. I handled it. We're okay right Antonio?"

Antonio nods and holds out his arm. "It doesn't even hurt anymore."

Santana stared at Charlie and then her son before grabbing his arm and pulling him away from Charlie. "Let's go."

Charlie frowned at the harshness in her voice. Wincing as he saw her pull Antonio's arm. She had never been that rough with him. "Hold on, I need to get the goop off," Charlie said managing to get Santana to stop for a moment and turn to him. "I'll clean up the store too," he adds before approaching Antonio reaching into his pockets and pulling out the powerful ward that he made just for him. He runs his hand over the goop carefully and slips it into Antonio's hand. "Keep it with you alright?" He whispers in his ear before patting him on the head and getting up. "There all done." He keeps his face neutral as Santana yanks Antonio to his room. Something was definitely _not_ right.


	21. Chapter 21

Santana tried to ignore the pounding in her chest as she smiled at a customer and took a seat quietly in an empty part of the coffee shop that she was in. She had no idea what she was supposed to do next, all she knew was that her body wasn't her own anymore. The words that came out of her mouth—some of them weren't hers anymore, it was a violation like nothing she had ever felt before. She was terrified of what he would do. What he _could_ do to her and it made her hate him for it. It made her hate herself for it; for being weak, for being powerless to stop herself from following his every whim.

She didn't even understand how he was doing it. The only thing that she could guess was that Noah was like Brittany in a way, at least he his discipline was the same as Brittany's but Brittany had never made her do things against her will. She had always believed that Charlie's discipline was the most powerful one out there. It's what Terri had led her to believe, it's what Charlie had led her to believe but she doubted that even he could stand against this.

Today was yet another example of Noah's ability. Here she was, meeting him for a coffee after giving Charlie some believable lie. For a moment she had thought that he had realized something was off, that he'd _test her_ or do _something_ to figure it out, but he had only nodded and let her carry on with her life. She had to wonder if she was going to spend the rest of her life worrying about how to regain control and attempting to keep her son out of this mess.

He slumps down onto the seat beside her and offers a sideways grin. "Don't look so bored, Hot Ass, we're making plans and not even that idiot Fabray can stop us."

She mentally groans, could he be any more like some comic book villain? But that's not the first hint she's had that he has some sort of history with Charlie. Resigned that she's not going to be able to do much more than this, she decides that at least she can get some answers. But she's going to have to be careful because she definitely doesn't want to piss him off. "What plans?"

Noah frowned slightly, "You _really_ have no idea who I am? Or what he _did_ to me?" He scowls and looks at his broken hands. "Of course not, because nothing can touch _that_ family."

"No, I don't know who you are. I don't _care_ to know who you are. If you have some sort of blood feud with Charlie, then take it up with him. I don't know why you need to bring me or my son into it. You have a daughter don't you?"

Noah turned to her a look of disdain painting his features. "Don't you dare bring _her_ into this. You don't even know the _real_ him. You don't have any idea what he's capable of, but I bet you think he's just some _idiot_ savant or something."

Santana sipped on her coffee, trying to pick the correct words, "I never once thought Charlie was an idiot, I think that he doesn't quite know what to make of certain social situations and would rather be in his workshop then dealing with people. Again, if he hurt you—"

"We were _friends_ once, roommates—I had his back when the others picked on him for being weird, because that's what he was. He was _odd_ and powerful, and we're not evolved. Children can be _cruel_ , not that it bothered him. We were destined to be the two greatest magicians in history."

"He should be grateful to you then." She surmises, trying to stroke his ego. He seemed like the type of person that needed constant validation.

"You would think so." Noah agrees and Santana's glad that she seems to at least have some sort of footing here. "He knew about my gifts and he didn't give a fuck. I was great, _unstoppable_. With a flick of my wrist, I could bend reality to my whims. I was a _god._ "

Santana shivers at the thought. "But you're still so powerful—"

"Hardly. It wasn't until—" He trails off, his eyes narrowing and a fire burns behind his eyes that makes Santana shift in her chair uncomfortably, "—well it doesn't matter, because he fucking betrayed me. After everything I did for him, every damn time I stood up for him and protected him. After _all_ of that he crushed my hands so I couldn't ever do real magic again. And then I became _this_." He growls as he looks down at the mangled skin around his hands. "A fucking shell of who I used to be."

Santana swallows, he wasn't going to reveal his master plan which was fine. She needed to figure out a way to alert Charlie, or someone a Fabray. "I don't know why you need me then. Charlie is—Charlie, I'm just his assistant. The only reason he'll care is because his last two assistants left which means he'll be forced to deal with people. So just let me go—"

Noah scoffed, she had no idea how valuable she was. "You're wrong. I _do_ need you. His wards—"

Santana held up her hands to stop him. "If you think I know how to disable his wards, you're mistaken. I don't even know where he hides them," it was partly true. She knew where he hid one of them, but some of them were so big, and she had to believe that Charlie would know when someone was messing with his wards.

Noah scowled, even in his state he could feel those wards, it made his hands ache in ways that shouldn't even be possible. "You're right, he was always paranoid, it was probably why he wouldn't sell Finn the damn ingredients—" Noah pauses. "You're his assistant you'd be able to bypass any of his wards; you can bring them to me."

Shit. She hadn't thought he would be so brazen— "It's not like Charlie trusts me. I wouldn't even know where to find what you're looking for."

" _Don't_ lie to me," Noah snaps at her.

Santana bit her tongue immediately, she had pushed him too far, and that order had cost her deeply she'd need to be more careful with what she told him. "I'm not lying; I don't know where to find what you're looking for. I just _learned_ about magic recently, the only thing Charlie did was to childproof his store to protect me from myself, so he wouldn't have to watch me like a child all the time. So if you think I know where his powerful ingredients are then you're mistaken."

Noah inhales deeply, "Then why do I need you exactly?" He demands.

The threat hangs in the air clearly and Santana gulps. She didn't want to help him but she had no idea how far his powers stretched and she needed to think about Antonio. If she died—what would happen to him. "I don't know what happened between you and Charlie, I know he hurt you but I just needed a job to support my son. That's it, he offered me money and it was a god send for a single mother. You have a daughter—I don't know if you know what it's like to struggle but I couldn't even give him a proper birthday party. This is his first year where I can give him a party that he'll remember."

"A birthday party?" Noah presses before slowly smiling. All wasn't lost, and Charlie was far too arrogant, like the laws that governed the Magicians didn't apply to him. It was the only reason he had even _found_ Charlie to begin with, he had been performing magic in front of children. Children who were too stupid and young to realize that Charlie Fabray was just a hack.


	22. Chapter 22

"Charlie? What are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you for another month." Brittany leans against the doorframe to her office and crosses her arms over her chest in amusement. He's probably gotten himself into some mess and she can't wait to hear him grovel.

Charlie stopped pacing in Brittany's office, a scowl still on his face. He's been waiting _forever_ for Mike to be able to track her down. What kind of magician wasn't readily available during business hours? "What took you so long?"

"You've only been here for about five minutes." Brittany reminds him.

"But this is _urgent_."

Brittany rolls her eyes. "Everything is urgent when you need it. I didn't expect to see you for another month or so. I thought you would have had your fill of our family bonding."

"I'm not here for family bonding. I'm—" He blows out a frustrated breath, "I'm worried."

Brittany's eyes narrow and she pulls her office door shut behind her and moves to her desk. Charlie is arrogant, egotistical and barely able to function in social situations. She's seen him during all sorts of stressful situations, but she's never seen him _actively_ worried about anything. "About what? I thought we already established that your wards were fine."

"There's something off with Santana. She's acting weird." He runs his hand through his short clipped hair.

Brittany smirks. "I don't know that _you're_ the authority on what's weird and what's not, Chuck."

"No. It's not—She's not acting normal. It's like, maybe she's not acting oddly. Maybe it's just that womanly lunar session—"

"Womanly lunar session? You've got to be kidding me." Brittany scoffs. How is it that he's grown up with two sisters and is still so oblivious? It would almost be amusing if it wasn't so pathetic. "It's called menstruation. Or a period."

"But it seems like it's _more_ than that." Charlie stresses. "She's completely changed her attitude about her parent's infiltrating her life. She's completely disregarded picking the dwarf up from school on _three_ occasions. It's just—something is wrong."

Maybe it's the urgency in his voice or the fact that she's never seen him act this way that makes her stop and listen. She's learned by now to listen to his instincts. "What do you think is wrong?"

"Part of me worries that I have offended her somehow."

Brittany nods, that's just as likely as anything else. "And the other part?"

"I think it's Puck."

For a minute, Brittany forgets to breathe, all air feels like it's forcibly pushed from her lungs. "Puck? Why?"

"The look in her eyes—it reminded me of her."

"Of Quinn?"

Charlie nods emphatically. He doesn't have a lot of regrets in his life. He's one of the most brilliant magicians in the world and he doesn't have a lot to apologize for. But the guilt about Quinn, about _Noah_ is something he's not sure he can live with. Brittany is the only other person who still knows, but the idea that Santana too could be a victim of—he shakes his head and tries to ignore the uncomfortable nausea that threatens to bubble up against his will.

"Maybe it's not him?" Brittany offers hopefully, gulping down even as she feels her own panic rising. She had always hoped that they would never have to worry about Noah Puckerman again. "It's _probably_ not him."

"You're right of course, Puck can't do _magic_ not after what I did to him—"

"You didn't do enough as far as I was concerned," Brittany mutters to herself.

Charlie made a face and looked at his hands, "I took away a magician's greatest gift—I made him for the most part _mundane_. He doesn't get to feel that raw power in his hands anymore. He's certainly not powerful enough to come after me, he _should_ know better. Besides Santana's abilities—I'm unsure what to make of it. The Thunder children called her a seer, it's rare magic but I was under the opinion that it was under the umbrella of psychic abilities. Which means that his abilities shouldn't be able to _work_ on her, they certainly never worked on you."

"They never worked on you either, my abilities don't even work on you, I'm not sure if it's because your element provides a protective measure or if it's because you're on the spectrum somewhere," Brittany muses, she'd never tested the theory out. Charlie did seem to operate on a different wavelength than other people.

"Spectrum?"

Brittany blinked and flicked her eyes back to him, she wasn't going to have the conversation with him now. It was far too early and she wasn't quite sure if she would offend him. "Never mind, you might have inadvertently awakened Santana's powers with your stupid stunt—you're lucky that you didn't get caught by the way, but they're still _latent_ relatively speaking she has no control over them. She certainly doesn't have the basic defenses that she needs to protect herself."

"I can't teach her the basic defenses because I never learned them," Charlie admits, he had never needed to. His mind seemed to be protected from psychic attacks as far as he knew. "I can however make her wards—"

"Which I've told you is not your smartest idea, sure it'll stop ninety percent of psychics, but the powerful ones—like myself can break through them, and the brute force that will require will not only mess with her mind, but alert any psychic that you are trying to stop them. If Santana _is_ being manipulated by Puck, then it would only put her in more danger."

Charlie frowns. "But my wards are different."

"Please I could rip past your wards if I wanted to, and the force that it would take—it's easier to simply learn how to put up psychic defenses, it's safer and more importantly you _can feel_ most attacks. So you're aware it's happening."

"I'm aware, but whatever it is I have a natural resistance to it, it was never important for me to learn how to defend myself against psychics—"

"Which is why you didn't notice all the women?"

"I've seen you and Mike naked before, I've seen Quinn and Rachel naked, none of which makes sense to me because you aren't _procreating_ —"

"Sex feels good, and it isn't just for procreating," Brittany interrupts shaking her head. "Look, I'm not going to draw you a Venn diagram about this so you can understand it especially because when you finally want to lose your virginity it'll be fucking hilarious."

Charlie made a face and crossed his legs, "How do I check if it's Noah? Perhaps I should follow her?"

"Women— _people_ don't generally like stalkers Charlie—"

"I promised that I'd keep her safe, how am I supposed to do that if I don't keep her close by?" Charlie interrupts. "Perhaps if I—"

"No. Stop whatever it is that you're thinking, have you thought about _asking her_?" Brittany asks.

Charlie grumbled and pulled out his cue cards, "I did, but the words weren't in the pile. Rachel made it very clear to keep Santana as my assistant, I needed to let her breathe or _something_. It's all very hard to keep track of. Also why I'm here, since you're an empath. I was thinking you could write it down so I can ask her—"

"No. Communicating with people is something you learn as children. Something which you're terrible at and everyone around you enables your terrible social skills. Half the time I think you do it on purpose. You like Santana, I am not going to be your _go between_ unless it is an emergency. I don't think this is an emergency."

Charlie grunted at her, this is why he didn't talk to his family. They always expected him to help out even if he thought it was a terrible idea. "You—"

"I married Mike. I didn't steal him from you, we fell in love and got married. It happens, obviously to you a lot more than usual. Perhaps if you learned to _talk_ to people," Brittany interrupts going back to looking at her work.

Charlie made a face and looked at the time, he had told Santana that he was going to pick up Antonio anyway. "We'll continue this discussion later."

"It probably would be easier if you had a phone," Brittany points out and grins when Charlie stomps out. He always had been the baby of the family.


	23. Chapter 23

Antonio spins on the swivel chair in Charlie's back room. "Could you make an elephant disappear?"

"Of course." Charlie shrugs. Antonio has been trying to iron out the finer points of his birthday party magic show for the last several hours. "But the question is, do we have room for an elephant in the first place?"

The thought makes Antonio frown. His party was going to be held here at the shop, there definitely wasn't enough room for an elephant. "What about a miniature elephant?"

Charlie rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Definitely. It's the only solution." He agrees.

"Do you know where we can get a baby elephant?"

"What if we just take a normal sized elephant and shrink it?" Charlie offers. Baby elephants seemed like they would be a lot of work. Plus, he didn't want to have to deal with taking a small infant elephant from its mother. "Also, what do you mean by 'disappear'. I can turn it invisible, or I can turn it into a mouse—we probably shouldn't do that it might explode."

Antonio stops spinning, his eyes growing wide. " _Really_?"

"Yes, that's not a good thing. I don't think your mom would appreciate if I accidentally killed an elephant in front of all your friends. Perhaps we should think of something else. How about if I saw you in half? No, your mother might kill me if it goes horribly wrong. How about I just do some lightning tricks?"

"Or summon a dragon?" Antonio offers.

"Your mother said no—"

"Well then how about a bunny? Everyone likes bunnies, and a dragon is too scary for the girls," Antonio nods sagely.

"I don't like bunnies."

"But it's my birthday!" Antonio insists. "Please Mr. Charlie?"

Charlie frowns slightly, he truly didn't _like_ rabbits. They were creepy, especially the albino ones with the blood red eyes. There was no possible way that they weren't secretly plotting to take over the world. "Are you _sure_ your mother said it's okay for me to do magic at your party—also are you sure that she said that you can have it in the store?"

Antonio scratches his head, "She said it was okay, but I don't really think she was listening to me—why can't we have it here?"

"Because my shop has dangerous things in it, and your mother knows that," Charlie mused mostly to himself, there was no way that he could childproof the store completely. "Why don't we do it at my parents place? There's plenty of space and perhaps Brittany can bring over one of the baby unicorns that was just born."

"That could be cool." Antonio admits.

"Antonio—" Santana's sharp tone startles both of them. "What are you doing back here?"

"Charlie and I were just talking about my party." Antonio defends. His mom has been grumpy lately and for some reason he seems to constantly find himself in trouble. "He said that maybe aunt Brittany can bring the baby unicorns so that we can see them. They don't have their horns yet, so it's okay right mom?" He pauses and looks over at Charlie. "Do you think she can bring other creatures? The thunder babies? Just one or two?"

Charlie looked up at Santana, "I think you need to ask your mother—"

"It's fine." Santana brushes off Charlie's concern, her eyes narrowed on Antonio. "Is your homework done? Because maybe we won't have a party _at all_."

Antonio's face pales and he slides off the stool. "It'll be done real quick." He promises quickly.

Charlie watches him go with a frown. He was still sure that something was wrong and despite what Brittany had to say he was going to find out. "Is this about your parents?" He guesses. Santana has been irritable.

"Yeah, sure." She dismisses lightly, huffing out an annoyed breath. "Sorry that he was bugging you."

Charlie narrows his eyes skeptically. "He wants me to summon dragons, which as you know I'm perfectly okay doing that but I wasn't sure if you'd want me to."

Santana pauses for a moment, "You know what, it's his birthday and it should be special. Just—just do whatever you think will make him happy."

Charlie tilts his head reaching into his pocket to pull out his coin and causing it to spin in the air above his hand as he studies Santana. "He wants me to make an elephant explode."

Santana shifted nervously, "Look, Charlie, I'm sure you can figure out what Antonio can have at his party and what he can't. I trust your judgement on that. So I'm going to go back to do inventory because apparently that's a thing that you don't do according to Rachel."

The coin dropped out of Charlie's hand at the statement and he's up on his feet before Santana can leave the room. "Santana wait." He frowns when she looks at him an annoyed look on her face. "I know this isn't my place, but you've been acting very odd. Like, you haven't been yourself. Normally you'd yell at me for wanting to do something dangerous but now you seem—apathetic isn't the right word—you're not supposed to let me do whatever comes to my mind. Especially not when it comes with the dwarf because he's important to you."

Santana pinched the bridge of her nose, "I've just got a lot on my mind. Antonio likes you and you're not absolutely _terrible_ when it comes to children. So I just need you to—help out a bit more than you have."

"Of course, because of the lawyer and your parents," Charlie nods his eyes searching Santana's face.

Santana nods at his statement, "Right, I just need to get everything squared away. Make sure that my parents don't try anything. I know that I haven't been as present lately but Antonio is the most important person in the world to me."

"I know." Charlie said with a smile before moving his hand quickly and touching her forehead. "I always found it easier to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission." He says as she tries to pull back. " ** _Uinak_**." He moves quickly catching Santana in his arms as her body crumples, catching her before she hits the ground. He pauses studying her carefully, if he was wrong he had just lost another assistant. But at this point he needed to be sure. He shifts his body so he can carry her fireman style back to her apartment.

"Mr. Charlie can you help me with my—" Antonio stopped and stared at the sight of his mom in Mr. Charlie's arms. "What happened to mom! Is she okay? Is she sick!"

Charlie flicks his eyes towards Antonio, he had _not_ thought this through. "Your mother will be fine Antonio, I just put her to sleep for now. I'm going to need to call Brittany, and perhaps my mother, but I promise you that she'll be okay. I told your mom that I'd keep you both safe and that's what I'm doing. Even if she doesn't like my methods. So how about you help me by locking the store and making sure that the sign is on closed alright?"

"You did magic on her?"

"A little sleep spell, I need to make sure that someone else hasn't been using magic on your mom." Charlie sighed as he watched Antonio to make sure that he did exactly as he instructed. "Unfortunately the magic that I think was used is _not_ my specialty. But I will make sure your mother is okay I promise."

Antonio nods as he flips the sign over and rushes back to Charlie's side to make sure his mom was okay and reaches for her hand. Stopping when Charlie adjusts her in his arms. "Can I help?"

"Yes, with the doors Antonio. We're going to get her into your apartment and put her on the couch and then we're going to call Brittany. She's the only person I know that can help me fix this," Charlie responds moving slowly with Santana in his arms. It would be simple to use his abilities to levitate her but he didn't want to. He should have kept her closer to make sure that no harm befell on her. And if his assumptions were right then there would be _nothing_ on this planet that would stop him from breaking the ones responsible.

~O~

Antonio answers the door before Brittany can knock a second time. "Is my mom going to be okay?" He asks impatiently.

She sighs and pats him gently on the shoulder. "Let me see her first." She should have brought Mike along, but baby unicorns required a ton of attention. She spots Charlie sitting on the coffee table his brows furrowed as he stared at Santana. He probably didn't notice the dragon on his shoulder. "You had better be right about this Charlie."

Charlie frowns and looks up at Brittany, "When have I ever been wrong?"

"The various times that you caused things to explode—don't worry Charlie's not going to make your mom explode. That's why I'm here," Brittany said quickly to assuage any fears that Antonio might have. She frowns and looks at Santana's sleeping form. "I told you that it's probably nothing—if your paranoia costs you a perfectly good assistant mom and dad are going to step in."

"She said she _trusted me_."

Brittany stopped, her brother was the biggest idiot in the world. Of course it was probable that he finally understood that his personality did not make him the best caretaker in the world. That he was barely competent at most social interactions. "She makes you babysit Antonio and allows you to pick him up from school—"

"Brittany, I'm telling you that something is wrong. So if you're not going to do it and make sure I'll have to find someone else. If I'm wrong, then _I'm_ wrong and you can put all the blame on me." Charlie snaps at her.

"It doesn't work like that. You have to understand Charlie, we're not kids anymore and this isn't our sister. Invading her thoughts to make sure it's not—" She glances at Antonio and stops herself, " _him_ , it's a violation. If we're wrong—"

"We're not—I'm not. Why don't you just trust me?"

Brittany rolls her eyes. "Let's just get this over with." Brittany sighs and makes her way to the couch where Santana has been haphazardly draped across. "Seriously? You didn't even prop up her head. _This_ is precisely why I don't trust you."

Charlie folds his arms over his chest. "I asked you to come here for your help, not to criticize me. So get on with it."

With a huff, she sits down on the couch beside Santana and puts her fingers to Santana's temples. She's a powerful empath but she wants to limit any potential interference. She closes her eyes and tries to separate through the thoughts and through the memories.

Antonio moved to grip Charlie's hand tightly, tugging on it. He didn't understand anything that was going on but Charlie seemed to be focused on making his mom better. "I don't understand, is she like sick?"

Charlie glances down at Antonio and turns so he can bend down and be at eye-level with the boy. "Has your mom been talking to anyone _new_ , that you didn't know before?" Charlie questions. It might be easier to pull the information from Antonio then wait for Brittany to confirm what he already knows to be true.

"Uh—my mom has been making me spend time with Beth—we walk home together sometimes. Her dad has a weird haircut, and I think he _likes_ my mom but I don't really like him. I don't like Beth either, she's mean."

Charlie nodded, it could be him—but even Noah couldn't be _that obvious_. "This man, are his hands—"

"Oh yeah, mom said I shouldn't really look but his hands are _super_ weird and broken and stuff. He can't do a lot of things; I'm not allowed to say anything about it." Antonio frowned. "He asked about you a lot, and then asked me not to tell you. He said he might hire you for Beth's birthday." Antonio frowns when Charlie's body goes rigid and Spot immediately scrambles of Mr. Charlie's shoulder and into his arms. "Mr. Charlie—" Antonio yelps and pulls back when a large spark runs across Charlie's arm.

Charlie glances at his hands for a moment willing himself to get his emotional being under control. "I apologize, perhaps we should wait in my apartment and give my sister the _space_ that she needs." He looks over to Brittany. Her concentration was _paramount_ , and he couldn't have his powers interfering with what she was doing.


	24. Chapter 24

Charlie frowned as he turned around and continued to pace, the coin in his hand spinning rapidly. He ignores Spot who darts under his foot and hisses at him. Charlie glances at the dragon for a moment. "Hiss to you too." He grumbles as he flips the coin up in the air.

"Mr. Charlie, you _said_ my mom would be okay. You _promised_." Antonio swallows as he followed Charlie with his eyes. "You _promised_."

"I did." He agreed. "And she will be, but we have to help her first."

"What's wrong with her?"

Charlie sighed and held out his hand, letting Antonio see the sparks on his hand. "I am an elemental, which means power wise I'm a force of nature Quinn is the same. It's also more or less, magic that you can see or feel. However, there are magician's like my _mother_ and my sister and even to an extent my father even though he doesn't practice any more, that isn't as _colorful_ or as eye-catching as my discipline. Which means that they are sometimes harder to detect. Most of us—magicians, we use our abilities for good, or at the very least we don't _hurt_ other people with our magic—"

"But you said you hurt someone before," Antonio interrupts his brow furrowing at the thought. "Does that make you a bad guy?"

"I don't know. What I do know, is that there was a person who was using his discipline to hurt someone very close to me. That same person used their magic against your mom. That's why Brittany's here. Psychic magic is not something that I can do. I mean I can do a few tricks, but it's not something I spent any time studying because I don't have a gift in it—and my discipline—or at the very least my element protects me against people trying to enter my mind."

Antonio frowned even though Spot comes up to cuddle close to him. "Did he hurt her? If he was psychic, does that mean he made my mom not like me or—"

"We don't _know_ what it means right now." Charlie explains frankly. "I wish I had the answers for you. I do. But Brittany has done this before and I know she is the best at this. She'll make sure that he has no power over your mother anymore. And while she's in there she'll make sure that no one can ever do that to your mother again."

Antonio nods, "Should we call the magic police? You said that your sister is a magic police officer maybe they can go get him for hurting my mom."

Charlie made a face, "No. I'm going to make sure that he _never_ ever hurts anyone again," Charlie frowned. The council wouldn't _do_ anything about this and he didn't want to deal with Quinn being forced to relive _everything_ she had gone through. There was a reason why they hadn't gone to the adults beforehand when they were younger.

"Good. But why didn't he use his magic on me?" Antonio frowns.

"Because I gave you something that would protect you and he probably didn't notice it," Charlie answers. "Remember?"

"You mean this?" Antonio draws the ward that Charlie had made him practice until it was perfect. It had been kind of fun to learn something powerful, even if it was just something that protected him. But suddenly, a thought strikes him and makes his stomach flip. "If I had drawn it with my mom—could I have stopped it?"

"Probably." He says without thinking. When Spot nips at him, Charlie sighs, "If you and I had caught it in time, we could have protected her. It wasn't just your job; it was mine too. You're her son and it's an important job to keep your mom safe, but I am her Magician. I should have seen it before it happened."

"But you can't see the future." Antonio furrows his brow. "Right?"

"No. I can't. But I _should_ have. This is why we're going to do whatever it takes to help her. She's probably going to be really upset and maybe even a little angry. She could be scared, or she could be sick for the next few days. But we're going to take care of her."

Antonio gulps and nods. "Just like we should have in the beginning."

~O~

Brittany frowns and pulls her hands down from Santana's temples. This is her worst nightmare coming true. For _years_ she's wondered if she did the right thing with Quinn, blocking every single memory of Noah. Back then, she hadn't realized how Noah had infiltrated so much of Quinn's memories and abilities. She's spent her entire life thinking about what she would do differently if she could do it all over again.

But she didn't ever think she'd get the chance.

She felt _guilty._ Maybe if they had reported it, told their parents and reported Puck to the authorities then he wouldn't have been able to prey on anyone else. But they hadn't and this was the result. Charlie's general paranoia had finally been good for something, and she was surprised that he had even noticed. He _hadn't_ noticed when it came to Quinn until it was too late, they had been closer once.

The real problem was that they had all been friends, to some degree, so she couldn't erase Quinn's feelings mind about Noah, without dampening how she felt about Charlie. Dealing with the brain and emotions was _tricky_ even for someone as gifted as her and she had been young and inexperienced. Even now, it wasn't as if she had _practiced_ on other individuals. Santana was only the second person she was working on.

It was easier than she remembered it being with Quinn. Maybe it was because they caught it early enough or maybe she was a better Magician than she had been at eighteen. Regardless, releasing Noah's hold didn't mean she had to eradicate him from existence. She didn't have to leave Santana defenseless. This time instead, she had put up block after block, erasing Puck's commands without having to erase the experience entirely.

Maybe, if Charlie didn't kill him first, Santana could help them take him down. Though it would probably end up with Charlie killing him regardless.

She pulls back, and licks her lips, wondering when they had gotten so dry. Now all they could do was _wait_. She was sure that she hadn't missed anything but someone would need to keep an eye on Santana for a few days. Antonio would have to make sure that his mom wasn't acting weird because she wasn't sure if she trusted Charlie's judgement on what was weird and what wasn't.

With a grunt Brittany gets up and heads to the sink so she can pour herself a glass of water when she freezes and hears a low groan and turns her attention back to Santana. Water could wait, she needed to make sure she hadn't inadvertently left Santana a vegetable.

"Santana? Can you hear me?" Brittany asks gently shaking Santana's arm. "Please don't do something scary like grab my throat and have your eyes flash red," she mutters. She had been watching way too many scary movies as of late.

Santana groans again, her eyes fluttering open. She blinks twice and immediately grimaces, her head felt _weird_. It wasn't quite painful, but it felt uncomfortable and she glances over at Brittany, confusion crossing her face. "What are you doing here?"

Brittany smiled, "I know it might feel like I took a brush to your brain, but I have a few questions that I need to ask you. Unless—there is something _important_ you want to tell me. Something of the utmost important that you think I—or Chuck should know? "

Santana nods and rubs at her temples. There was no point in even _attempting_ to try and explain what was going on here, but she needed to try and keep trying. His words _couldn't_ be absolute. "You mean about the psychopathic asshole—" Santana paused and looked up, she had been sure that had been _her_ voice that had just spoken. But it couldn't be. "Noah—" She immediately tenses up when Brittany throws her arms around her.

"It worked. Fuck. I can't believe it _worked_. This is good—no this is _fantastic_."

"Uh Brittany?"

"You might feel like you have the worst hangover of your life, but we did it!" Brittany does a little victory dance.

Santana stares at Brittany, "You did it?"

"Well, it was mostly Charlie who noticed something was wrong and you really don't want him in your head, not that he could get into it. He doesn't have the talent for it at all. Probably an after effect of his lightning." Brittany mused. But it's a good thing Santana, he's been waiting with Antonio in his apartment so when you're ready to—" Brittany shifted quickly catching Santana as she tried to get up. "You might be dizzy and you start smelling toast you need to tell me immediately," Brittany informs her.

Santana nods absentmindedly gritting her teeth at the pounding headache, that had clearly been a mistake. She just needed to get to her son, and make sure that he was okay. "He—gave orders to Antonio—"

"Charlie gave him a medallion ages ago, that has kept him safe, but I will check him over." Brittany promised as she helped Santana cross the room and through the hallway. Charlie has been worried about you—and if he hadn't been paranoid about how odd you were acting—by the way it's a big accomplishment for him to actually notice that you were acting odd. My point is—you're going to need to forgive him for not asking permission before he put you to sleep." Brittany informed her. When Santana doesn't say anything she bites her lip. "He cares about you and Antonio a _lot_ Santana."

The door swung open before Santana could reply and Charlie stood there his hazel eyes searching her suspiciously.

"Mom!" Antonio said immediately making his way to her and trying to push past Charlie who immediately placed his hand out. Antonio stops and stares glancing between his mother and Mr. Charlie. "Is she my mom?" He asks fretfully.

Charlie frowns slightly, "Antonio wants me to make an elephant explode at his party—"

Santana's face twisted at him, annoyance written all over her features. "Are you insane? No. No magic. What is wrong with you?"

Charlie turns to Antonio and nods at him letting him go and watching as he hugged his mother tightly. He moves so that they can enter his apartment, helping Santana to his couch. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her. There was _nothing_ on his cards that told him how to handle this situation at all.


	25. Chapter 25

"Are you sure you should be up and walking around?" Charlie asks, a frown on his face as he watches Santana fiddle around in the kitchen. It seemed as if she was attempting to make tea. She hadn't said a word to him, not since she refused to allow him to perform at Antonio's birthday. It was obvious she was spinning wheels, unable to stand still for a moment. It had been easier once Antonio was awake, he had stuck by her side until he had gotten sleepy. She'd even thanked Brittany but she hadn't really said a word to him.

Not that he minded, but he was concerned. He had no idea if it had really worked, and while he trusted his sister to do a proper job—perhaps he needed to start looking into that field so he would be better able to protect her.

"I'm unsure if I've said this, but I'm sorry."

This makes Santana stop. She straightens her back but doesn't turn around. "For what?"

They're the first words she's said to him in hours. "I had a duty of care, and I should have recognized it sooner. I should have. It's a mistake that I don't plan on making again."

He can practically see her shudder before she spins around to face him. "A duty of care? You mean when you _promised_ that I'd be safe, that Antonio would be safe? And then this happens? Is that what you meant?"

"I—"

"All the creepy creatures that you keep around, the fires that you start, the fact that you summoned a dangerous pet for my son! I accepted that, it made Antonio happy and the pay was good. But you _never_ told you me you had enemies. I never would have taken the job if I had known that _crazed_ lunatics were after you because you had _fucked_ them over. I don't know what I expected, Terri _told me_ you were some sort of mercenary, but honestly I thought you were more into the whole finding rare items—and selling them I didn't think you were one of the _bad_ mercenaries."

"I don't."

"You can't be that _slow_ , I _saw_ what you did to his hands. You took away something that I know you cherish more than anything. So how could you possibly not realize that he _hates_ you. He _loathes you,_ and you have no idea of what he wants to do to you. So how can you stand there and tell me to my face that you don't have enemies." Santana reaches for the counter to steady herself. She could feel a pulsating headache coming on right behind her eyes. "Every word out of his mouth was how much he hated you, how all of this was your fault and I mean I saw what you did to his hands. So the question I have is _why_? Why the hell would you do that to another person?" She looks at him, his answer would determine whether she was going to quit and take her chances with someone else. Russell had offered her a position; she probably wouldn't make as much money but at least the pay was good. Maybe she could take Sebastian's job. It would serve the prick right.

Charlie studies her for a moment, there weren't the right _cards_ for this. "I did what I did because I thought that it would stop him. I was under the opinion that without the ability to do most magic he would never be able to do what he did to you to someone else."

"You thought _wrong_." Santana snaps at him.

"It's a mistake that I won't repeat," Charlie repeats darkly.

"I can't believe that I have to explain this to you, you're an _adult_. Violence will only lead to more violence, and Noah can't be the only person who's abused his gifts. I don't see you going around destroying their ability to do magic. So you're going to tell me exactly what started this war between the two of you. You need to tell me what _possessed_ you to destroy his hands. He claims that you were jealous but I would like to believe that you aren't that petty."

This finally elicits a response from Charlie who snorts, "Jealous? Noah was barely passing his classes and he depended on me to make sure his homework was passable. Did he have talent as a magician? Yes, he's from a pureblood family, he was powerful and had potential. Which he wasted. If he had picked up a book instead of attempting to get everyone to like him then perhaps he might be my equal."

Santana frowned, " _Charlie_."

"He was my roommate. We were friends once upon a time. I'm sure it may surprise you but I wasn't that popular growing up. People didn't flock to me like they did him. But he was kind to me." Charlie muses and looks at Santana. "I was aware that he might be using his discipline for personal gain, but that didn't bother me. Most people in his discipline have a hard time with me, apparently the lightning that I generate seems to create this barrier of sorts—Brittany described it as white noise, that is protective in nature. So what did it matter that he got an extra plate at breakfast? It was little things. It's not as if I haven't used my discipline for personal gain at times."

"Stealing cookies from your mother, and causing a blackout at the school because you forgot to study for a test, does _not_ make you some criminal savant. It makes you a child who was gifted with incredible abilities."

"We were _children_ ; I think that makes the difference. But as we grew older, and we finally started going through puberty—Noah had always been popular, so the girls that surrounded him—I never gave it much thought. It was just another distraction that I didn't have time for." Charlie reaches into his pockets and pulls out his coin and begins to move it in his hands in an agitated fashion. "I didn't care and I didn't _notice_ that there was something more— _insidious_ going on, until I caught him with Quinn." Charlie makes a face. "That's when I figured it out. Cause Quinn told me you know—and Brittany. I had to have dinner with them even though it was a waste of time and Brittany asked about the girls in my life to which I responded there were none. Quinn likes girls. I've known that when she started to, you know, grow up."

"He—"

"She was on her knees, when I opened the door to my room." Charlie says flatly, the coin in his hand glowing. Sparks began to fly off his hand. He flicks his eyes toward Santana, "He didn't—with you—"

It takes her a moment to realize what he's trying to say and she immediately shakes her head. "No."

He blows out a breath of relief he didn't know he had been holding. "Good. That's good." He mumbles this and looks at her.

Santana was quiet for a moment, "He raped her?"

Charlie nods once, "He made her to do every one of his _sick_ fantasies. I reacted, and Brittany spent the next few days scrubbing Quinn's mind like she did yours. Quinn then asked us to make her _forget_. She begged Brittany to make her forget so that's what we did." Charlie was quiet. "I don't know how many other people he harmed, so I did what I did. I don't regret it."

She feels her anger deflate a little. She's still unsettled and uncomfortable in her own skin, but she's relieved that at least Charlie hadn't incurred Noah's wrath over something petty. "You still should have told me."

"Are you going to quit?" Panic grips him at the thought. It's not just that he doesn't want to waste the effort to train another assistant. He's not sure what it means, but he doesn't want to lose her.

She sighs. She _should_ quit. Everything inside of her says that she should run as fast as she can from this stupid magical community. But she _can't_. Especially now that she knows that there are people like Noah in the world. "Who else have you pissed off?"

"Uh," He scratched the back of his head. "Do you want me to make a list?"

She laughs despite herself. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't have the social prowess that you and Brittany and even _Quinn_ seem to possess. I'm afraid there are a lot of people I have offended or upset over the years. Far too many to make a list about, and I'm sure there will be many people missing from the list."

"Fine." She rolls her eyes, supposing that his assessment was fair. "Who else wants to _kill_ you and might use _me_ to do it."

"I've helped Quinn put a few people away, I imagine that a few of them would like to knock me down a few pegs. Using you on the other hand? Very few people have the skill that Puck has, but to make sure that you aren't ever in that position again. Brittany has promised to put up very strong mental blocks on both you and Antonio to make sure no one can ever take your will from you again." Charlie promised. "I _promise_ that I will increase security as well, and make sure that you are equipped with enough defensive magic to keep you safe from any attacks."

Santana inhales slowly, "I don't think you realize how much of a _violation_ it was. I don't think you understand how I screamed at you to notice that something was up and then _act_ on it. He hates you Charlie, and I didn't know, I met him and I felt that something was off but I didn't _know_ and—" She pauses when Charlie hugs her tightly. The action catches her by surprise and her breath catches. His body feels warm and she bites her lip and clings to him tightly.

"I'll do better." He vowed, it was the only thing that he could do. He'd have to make his shop and this house a fortress.

Santana nods, she believed him. For someone who wasn't good with emotions and people, he _had_ noticed. He had been worried and he had still tried to respect her requests about using magic. "Okay—"

"Mom?"

Santana pulls away from Charlie and turns to look at her son who was busy rubbing his eye and staring at them a curious expression on his face. "Tony you're supposed to be in bed—do you need a glass of water?" She asks, moving to get him a glass.

"Hi Mr. Charlie," Antonio waves tiredly. He turns back to his mom and studies her carefully. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine."

"You promise?"

"Yeah. I'm just a bit jumpy but I promise you that I'll be okay." Santana said moving so she could hug him tightly.

Antonio holds onto her as if she might disappear at any second and she feels a pang of regret that she ever put him into that position.


	26. Chapter 26

Santana hesitated as she watched Antonio shoveling cereal into his mouth, occasionally feeding Spot some of the sugary breakfast food. She wasn't quite sure what to do. There was a _huge_ part of her that wanted to keep Antonio safe, she hadn't checked in yesterday with Noah, and she wasn't sure what his next move was going to be. Surely he would have figured out by now that she had been compromised. Yet she didn't want Antonio living in fear, the last thing she needed was for him to become a neurotic mess, worried about what went bump in the night.

"So, what's Mr. Charlie going to do mom?" Antonio asked finally. "Is he going to beat up the person who hurt you?"

Santana blinked focusing on her son for a moment, "No. Absolutely _not_. Beating people up is the reason we're in this situation to begin with. If Mr—if Charlie hadn't lost his temper, then he wouldn't have come after us to get to him." The situation was complicated, and she was making the executive decision to protect her son from the truth.

Antonio frowned, "So Mr. Charlie did a _bad_ thing?"

Santana hesitated, cursing Antonio's curiosity. "No. He didn't do a _bad_ thing. He didn't do the _right_ thing either. He should have gone to his parents or someone instead of attacking the person that hurt me. _But_ , I can't blame him for getting so angry that he lashed out, that doesn't make it right—it just makes it understandable. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Antonio said swallowing. "I think so." He's quiet for a moment. "Are you _sure_ that Mr. Charlie isn't going to hurt him, because he seemed really angry yesterday."

"I'll talk to him," Santana promises. It was nice to know that he cared, but she didn't want to be dragged into this war between the two of them. She wasn't going to be Noah's puppet anymore, and she certainly didn't want Charlie _saving_ her. She was still surprised that he had even noticed, that there was something different about her behavior.

"What are you waiting for?" Antonio narrows his eyes at his mom.

"You mean _now_?" Antonio nods at the question and Santana sighs. "Alright, I'll make sure that Charlie doesn't go on the warpath, I needed to talk to him about something else anyway." She needed to make sure that Antonio would be safe, that Noah wouldn't retaliate in the worst possible way by going after her son. "Finish your cereal and get ready alright?" Santana lectures as she moves towards the door and pulls open the door. She takes a step forward and feels her foot catch on something large in front of her door. She immediately glances down.

"Ow."

"Charlie, what are you doing?" Santana demands noting that he had a piece of chalk and that parts of the carpet had been lifted up, with strange markings all over the floor. He looked rather haggard.

Charlie glances at Santana, "Wards. Powerful wards. This place will alert me if someone sneezes funny. I told you that I would make sure that you're safe. I'm working on it; I'm only half done—that's being generous, I have only done the store—"

"Stop," Santana said holding her hand up. "Antonio wants me to make sure that you aren't going to _hurt_ anyone. You aren't going to hurt Noah."

"What I plan to do to him _won't_ hurt. I can make sure that he'll never hurt anyone again though."

"He has a child, Charlie, someone who depends on him," Santana reminds him.

"Bad people have children Santana, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't stop them."

"So put him in wizard jail."

"Excuse me?"

Santana sighed, she didn't quite know the correct terms for these things but they had to have some sort of jail. "Put him in wizard jail, that's what you do when people break the rules. I mean after he dropped wanting to curse you or something, he wanted you to have to deal with the board—for using magic in front of mundanes."

Charlie frowns at this, "I take it back. Noah was _never_ that smart. Surely he knows that with my family ties, that pinning me down for a minor infraction is going to lead to a minor slap on the wrist. The worst they could do is—"

"Suspend your magical abilities?" Santana presses. "He knows, that's when you'd be vulnerable which is when he was going to do the exact same thing to you as you did to him on a more permanent basis."

Charlie was quiet for a long moment looking at his hands, "The damage I did to his hands wasn't completely permanent if he found a top-class healer. I imagine he tried, but the only people who _could_ help him are in my family. My mother and my aunts working together could probably fix his hands however they would _never_ help him."

Santana groans, he probably thought he was incredibly clever. "That's beside the point Charlie. He has a daughter; you cannot kill him or maim him. I'm telling you what I want is for him to go to jail, or whatever the equivalent is."

"I'll try." It's the only thing that he can promise. He was going to _end_ Noah and his reign of terror no matter what the consequence was.

Santana narrowed her eyes, that wasn't good enough. "Charlie. _Promise me_ , or I swear on whatever you hold dear to you that I will quit and go and work for your father or Quinn, or Brittany or someone else. A rival, I don't care, but I'll do it."

"Promise what, exactly?"

"That you will not kill, maim, or seriously injure Noah Puckerman." Santana thinks over her own words to see if there were any loopholes. She personally didn't mind if Noah fell off a cliff but she didn't want Charlie to be the one to do it. " _And_ you will make sure he faces judgment before the tribunal."

It takes a moment of tense staring before he realizes that Santana is willing to put up a fight about this issue. "Fine."

She arches her brow. There's no _way_ it should be that easy.

"What do you want from me Santana?" He throws up his hands exasperatedly. "Sure I won't seriously harm him. But do you know what's going to happen if I do nothing? He'll find _another_ way. And sure, next time it might not be through you. But there's only _one_ way I can keep you and Antonio safe."

"You're worried about him."

"Of course I'm worried! He's a deranged maniac and he's not going to stop coming after _you_ to get to me."

She's stunned for a minute, unsure of what she's supposed to do next. Charlie's always been this enigmatic aloof person that she never really had to worry about. It didn't matter if he was making up spells or conjuring a dragon, she just always had to believe that he was harmlessly clueless. She turns to look at Antonio who is currently watching them from where he's petting Spot and she grimaces and grabs Charlie pulling him away from the door and closing the door. "Antonio looks up to you. Which is why I don't want you killing anyone, he's at an age where this can really shape him. Where he needs to learn right from wrong, he needs to understand it Charlie and you going off and killing someone or maiming them because you can and you have the power to do so, even if it is justified is not what I want Antonio to learn."

"That doesn't solve the Noah problem if I do nothing—"

"So use me. Use me to catch him. He probably thinks I'm compromised but if we can corner him—you can arrest him peacefully and drag him to face what he's done."

"Santana for the last time I have a _duty of care_ , putting you in harm's way is not part of any deal I'm willing to consider. You might do something incredibly foolish and get caught in the crossfire—"

"Noah can't do magic, only you can and you already promised to bring him in too face what he's done. So that's not an option. This—" Santana points to the marks on the ground, "Shouldn't be a thing. You can't lock me and Antonio up to keep us safe. So this is the only option."

"That's _not_ an option." Charlie disagrees right away.

"Yes it is. It's the only thing that makes sense. And if you're not going to help me, then I'm going to do it myself."

"You _can't._ The wards aren't strong enough—"

"Charlie, Antonio can't go to school until Noah and everyone who could possibly hurt him is taken care of. Antonio _needs_ to go to school." Santana sighs, "It's not only Antonio, I need to get ahead of this myself. He turned me into his pawn, and I need to make sure he knows that he can't ever hurt me again."

"I don't like going unprepared into things, while Noah may not quite be a match for me anymore his new magician might be, at least if Noah has been tutoring him, a magician duel is _nothing_ to sneeze at Santana." He sighs and rubs his temples. He was tired, he'd been up all night creating the new wards, and he had begun to trace them out. He hadn't even realized that it was morning. "You're not going to be bait, I'll find Noah, a simple location spell—"

"You don't think he's prepared for that?"

"A simple location spell on his daughter," Charlie finishes and raises his hands. "It won't hurt her, she won't feel it but it will be enough to locate him. It's simple, it's easy and once I've found him it'll be easier to track him. That way you don't need to do anything dangerous and Antonio will be back in school relatively soon."

"And what about his daughter?"

"What about his daughter? If Noah actually cared about her he wouldn't have come after me. He would have left it alone," Charlie replies. "She'll be taken care of by someone, we do take care of our own. You don't need to worry about her." Charlie promises.

Santana shook her head, she _hated_ when he said that she didn't have to worry. Clearly she did, because despite what Charlie personally believed he didn't actually _know_ everything. Nor could he predict the future. She couldn't just leave her safety, and Antonio's safety up to him. Which meant that this part of the conversation was going to be difficult. "Brittany offered to help me and Antonio learn to keep our minds closed off from psychic attacks—"

"Good. It's something that I can't teach you, I was going to suggest it myself." Charlie nods standing up and yawning.

Santana relaxes, he was always slightly odd about her going to see his siblings about help. He was possessive over her time, but for once he seemed to be putting her needs and Antonio's needs ahead of what he wanted. "Did Rachel give you more cards?"

"No. I think it's important that both of you learn how to protect your minds because I'm not always going to be right. There may be times where I don't notice and what happens if I'm _not_ there? You both need to learn how to protect yourself, so if anything does go wrong you know how to defend yourself." Charlie reaches forward and pats Santana's arm.

"Go get some sleep Charlie, I'll tell Antonio that he can spend the day with me. I don't think he really wanted to go to school anyway."

Charlie nods and is about to turn to enter his own apartment stopping for a moment, "My door is open Santana, no matter what you can just come in—oh, and don't answer the phone. I'm not sure how Noah's powers work, so better safe than sorry."


	27. Chapter 27

Ever since Rachel Berry-Fabray had known Charlie, he had always made snide demeaning comments about Quinn's abilities. It was rude and hurtful, as far as she was concerned, especially given the fact that between the two of them she was _certain_ that Quinn had more raw power. Charlie was an arrogant jackass as far as she was concerned. Quinn had insisted that it didn't bother and it was just some normal family ribbing. There were plenty of things to make fun of Charlie for, and Quinn did but Charlie didn't see how hard Quinn worked to make sure that she wasn't a burden to everyone else. She had always assumed that he had known deep down, which was why he helped whenever Quinn asked. Sure there would be a few snide comments, and he complained throughout but he _did_ help.

But this time he had _gone_ too far. She wasn't going to stand for it anymore and if Quinn wasn't going to say anything, then she would. She was Quinn's wife and defending her wife was high on her list of priorities, especially if it was against Charlie.

" _Charlie Reagan Fabray!_ I know you're in there! Open up!" Rachel demanded as she banged on his door. "Don't you dare think that closing down your store and hiding in your apartment will save you." The door opens behind her and Rachel turns, half expecting to see Santana, but instead it's Antonio who is staring at her. Rachel flushes and immediately straightens up, "Antonio I—"

"Mr. Charlie is sleeping, mom said that he needs his rest if he's going to bring in the bad guy so please be quiet," Antonio interrupts narrowing his eyes at her. Until Charlie was awake, it was up to him to protect his _mom_. Well him and Spot—even though Spot seemed more concerned with laying in the beam of sunlight.

"Charlie doesn't _really_ sleep, I don't think he knows how to do that anymore so he's probably simply avoiding me because he doesn't want to deal with my anger Tony."

Antonio frowned, "I don't like being called Tony," he says scratching his cheek. Charlie called him Antonio and the only person who called him Tony _sometimes_ was his mom. "Mom said—"

"Antonio, I understand how you feel but I've known Charlie for far longer than you have and I can tell when he's simply avoiding the consequences of his actions—"

"He's sleeping," Santana interrupts finally making her way to the doorway, narrowing her eyes at Rachel. No wonder Charlie had never taken to Rachel, she was rather annoying. "You didn't see the bags under his eyes—I wasn't going to let him start placing a ward when he was this tired—let alone do _magic_ around my son."

"A ward? Why does he need to place a ward?" That takes Rachel by surprise. Charlie is almost paranoid about making sure his shop has proper security.

Santana crosses her arms over her chest. "Does it matter? Charlie's exhausted, so whatever you're here for is going to have to wait."

Santana's flippant dismissal makes Rachel narrow her eyes as she remembers exactly why she's here. "It's not going to wait. He insulted my _wife_ and his ridiculous childish antics have simply gone too far.'

"I know this may be hard for you to believe, but we've had other things to deal with than worrying about hurting Quinn's feelings. So—"

"This is more than that. It's more than Charlie being his idiotic obtuse self." Rachel pushes past Santana to get her foot in the door. "And I'm not leaving until I give him a piece of my mind."

Charlie stumbles out of his bedroom, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Hey Rachel. Why are you here? I thought I was having a terrible dream only to realize you really were here in my apartment."

Rachel looks him over critically. He looked terrible, like he hadn't slept in days. He had deep black circles under his squinting eyes and day old stubble along his chin. Even though that might _normally_ garner some sympathy from her, she was here to put him in his place. " _Zizes_. You went to _Zizes_? How could you work with your sister's— _rival_?" Rachel spits angrily. "You know as well as I do that Quinn will never live this down, that you went to Zizes instead of her. Not that you care but people talk and _people_ have overheard you talking to Quinn. Now there are questions about her _competency_."

Charlie stared at Rachel blankly and then looked at Santana, "Since I'm up perhaps I could finish the—"

"You don't do magic when you're tired and your old wards are _still_ there. I feel safe," she lies. "So go back and get some sleep and then when you're finished—"

" _Don't_ dismiss me! You might think that it is just family ribbing, that you're just teasing Quinn about how terrible she is at magic but it _hurts_ her feelings. You have _no_ idea how hard she works, how much she practices in her spare time and studies various spells only to forget them. She _struggles_ , and you sit here in your 'ivory tower' making fun of her because no one is as smart as you. I'm here to tell you that it ends _today_. You're not working with Zizes to go on some stupid adventure."

Santana freezes at the admission. She had always dismissed Charlie's snide comments about Quinn's abilities as familial teasing, but did that mean that Charlie was somehow responsible? That Brittany helping Noah—? It had to be. She tries to catch Charlie's eyes but he's suddenly looking everywhere _but_ at her.

"You don't know what you're talking about Rachel." Charlie looks away and rubs the back of his head. "I have a project that is _sensitive_ and Quinn—"

"Is your _sister_. Or do you not care about that? She's your _sister_ and she tries so hard to make sure that she lives up to the Fabray family legacy. But you mock her and thwart her at every turn. It's gone too far. She doesn't deserve to be treated like this. So tell me, tell me what is _so_ sensitive that you went to the one person that Quinn hates more than anyone else on earth."

"Quinn hates a lot of people." Charlie shrugs.

"Don't avoid the question." Rachel snaps. She takes a step forward, getting into Charlie's personal space. "I _trusted_ you Charlie. For all of your mistakes and missteps, I _honestly_ thought you cared about people other than yourself. I may not have made the cut to be a magician, but I know plenty of spells that will make you hurt and I'll use every single one of them to watch you bleed unless you tell me why you would do this to her."

"I'm trying to protect her."

"Bullshit. Quinn doesn't need your protection."

Finally, Santana speaks up. "She does from this."

Rachel whips around, stunned to have Santana weigh in on something she definitely knows nothing about. "Excuse me?"

Santana winces when Charlie finally looks at her, he doesn't look pleased at what she said. Instead she immediately turns to Antonio who had been watching the back and forth with interest and shoos him back into the house. "I always thought being a Fabray meant that you were slightly misanthropic to begin with. Brittany lives in the forest with a bunch of animals, sure some of them may or may not be sentient, but she lives in the forest with a bunch of animals. Quinn doesn't really like people to begin with and Charlie—well, he's Charlie and that should say something. I asked him to do something, and trust me he's protecting Quinn."

"Well forgive me if I don't take your word for it."

Santana sighed, she hadn't known that this would become a family issue, when she had asked Charlie to do the _right_ thing. "I asked Charlie to go through the proper channels I'm sure if he had his way Quinn or this Zizes person wouldn't be in the equation at all so if you want to blame anyone blame me. I didn't want Quinn to know." Santana lies with ease.

Rachel narrowed her eyes, "What _exactly_ is going on?"

Charlie rubbed at his temples, he could feel a headache coming on and he wasn't quite sure how to handle it. "Rachel, you're not my assistant. I don't have to tell you anything and more importantly I don't really want to. If Quinn has any issue with me, then she knows where to find me. But I'm not going to stand here and defend myself, I need to start working on the wards again—"

Rachel threw her hands up, "You make half the wards in the state, how do you think you've been making your money? This place is as secure as it's ever going to be, because I can count on one hand the people who can undo your wards. That number becomes infinitely smaller when it comes to people who can undo your wards without you knowing."

"And yet, my wards didn't catch that Santana had an unfortunate run in with a psychic," Charlie points out dryly. He frowns slightly when Rachel pauses for a moment. "I'm working on rectifying that, hopefully this new batch will alert me to such an occurrence. I admit that I needed some help with the strokes however—I'd rather get it done sooner rather than later."

"Do you honestly think that Quinn wouldn't help you? An attack on your Assistant is an attack on this family. Your father and mother would—"

"Quinn and my parents would only slow me down." Charlie interrupts bluntly. "I should get back to—" He begins frowning when the words don't immediately come to him something about his wards. He needed to fix them, make them better.

"Go to sleep Charlie," Santana repeats. "You agreed no magic while you're tired. The fact that you can't remember any such conversation is _exactly_ why you need to sleep. I'll handle this alright?"

Charlie flicks his eyes back to Rachel for a moment before he stumbles back into his apartment and closes the door. "Fine," his voices comes out muffled through the door.

Santana relaxes for a moment, she wasn't sure what she was afraid of more. Charlie doing magic while physically and mentally exhausted or Noah. What she _wasn't_ afraid of, was Rachel. "Rachel, seriously this has nothing to do with Quinn and everything to do with me. I got attacked by a psychic, and I asked Charlie not to get Quinn involved. In fact I wanted to keep this as quiet as possible. I mean he violated my mind and I don't feel _safe_. That's why Charlie's been working non-stop, to make sure that it _never_ happens again. So tell Quinn not to take this personally—"

"Quinn is the equivalent of a police officer, why in the world would you ask Charlie not to tell her? If there was anyone you should tell about being attacked by a psychic—"

"Rachel my reason's are my own, but I didn't want the entire family to know. Now they do and I feel horrible about it, I didn't even really want to talk about it," Santana admits, cutting her off. "But I'm not going to let Charlie take the blame for this. As far as he was concerned he could take care of it quickly and quietly—"

"Yes but with a lot of paperwork. Charlie can't do whatever he wants whenever he wants to. There are rules, there are regulations and all because Charlie's last name is Fabray doesn't mean anything in the long run. He doesn't get to be judge, jury _and_ executioner," Rachel crosses her arms. There was something that she was missing and that she needed to get to the bottom of. What she did know was that Charlie had absolutely no skill in several of the disciplines, dealing with psychics was a glaring weakness that he had. Which meant that he had brought in Brittany which meant that Mike would know. "I'm sorry Santana, I didn't mean to pry into your life, but Charlie does have a history of thinking he's _better than_ Quinn."

"Charlie thinks he's better than everyone else. It's a Fabray thing," Santana responds bluntly. "Quinn shouldn't take it so personally. Now if you'll excuse me I've got to make sure that Antonio didn't sneak into the cookies again. So please don't take it out on Charlie and tell Quinn that it wasn't because I don't think she could handle it or anything—I just—I wanted him brought to justice. And I didn't think that Quinn could actually stop Charlie if he actually got angry, or wouldn't enable his bad behavior."

"Of course, well thank you for clearing that up for me," Rachel informs her, though she was sure her tone didn't lead Santana to any sort of belief. She _would_ get to the bottom of this for Quinn, no matter what.


	28. Chapter 28

Charlie's eyes snap open and he immediately jerks back a bit his hands coming up as he feels the power of his lightning crackle around his eyes. He blinks once, hoping to focus his vision on the person who had entered his personal space only to realize that it was Antonio who had also jumped back in shock. It takes him a moment to realize that Antonio was holding his blanket up, "Antonio? What are you doing here?"

Antonio bit his lip watching as the lightning dissipated, "Mom said she felt safer here with you around so she's on the couch and your blanket fell off so I was just trying to help!" He immediately gets out watching as Charlie sits up and rubs his eyes. "She said it was so that Rachel wouldn't show up again but I think she's still super worried."

Charlie studies Antonio for a moment, before swinging his legs off his bed and stretching, feeling his muscles and ligaments pop and crack with the effort. "Don't worry this will all be over soon. No one is going to hurt your mother like that ever again."

Antonio nods and lets go of Charlie's blanket, "After you're done can you keep teaching me magic? So I can protect my mom too?" He asks watching as Charlie opens a drawer and begins to look for a shirt.

Charlie stops and turns to look at Antonio again, there was an earnest look in his eyes. "Well—"

"I can almost draw a perfect circle now! I've been practicing every day. I promise," Antonio insists.

"Antonio—"

" _Please_ Mr. Charlie? You said you'd teach me how to protect mom and I can't depend on Spot all the time, she's just a baby."

Charlie scratched his cheek as he grabs a shirt and pulls it on, "If I'm going to teach you magic, which I will—then we're going to have to start at the beginning. I'm not going to teach you any short cuts, you will have to work very hard to become a decent magician and even then, without me knowing exactly which discipline you have a talent in, and you still don't have your magic. I'm unsure your mother will allow me to simply let you play with my magic, so we'll see."

"But that's not good enough. What if my mom _needs_ me?" Antonio worried.

Charlie frowns. "Well that would mean that I failed, I wasn't this good with magic overnight—" As far as he was concerned that was a lie, but Antonio wasn't a Fabray. He wasn't a pure-blooded Magician. To some people such as his father, it mattered. He personally couldn't care less about Antonio's blood status. But Magic would be harder, he would need to work twice as hard to be a decent Magician and as far as Charlie was concerned that was unacceptable. Antonio needed to be a _great_ Magician. "Don't worry about protecting your mother Antonio, I promise that I'll keep her safe. I'll keep the both of you safe."

Antonio frowns, that wasn't the answer that he _wanted_ to hear. But it would have to do for now. "Does that mean that you're going to marry my mom?"

"Marry her? Why on earth would I do that?"

"To _protect_ her." Antonio rolls his eyes as if it's the most obvious explanation in the world.

Charlie frowns and rubs his chin thoughtfully. "I don't have to marry her to protect her. Magic doesn't work that way. But she is my assistant and I'll do everything in my power to make sure she's safe. She's my assistant and she's too good at it for me to ever let her go easily." He nudges Antonio at the end of his statement, hoping a little playful light-heartedness will keep Antonio from worrying about this too much.

Antonio isn't going to be dissuaded so easily. "Rachel was your assistant. So was Mike. And they _left._ If you married my mom, you could protect her forever, and she couldn't leave even if she wanted to."

Charlie lifts up his finger, about to respond when he really thinks over Antonio's suggestion. Is that really such a bad idea? Surely Rachel would never leave _Quinn_. "Antonio, your mother is—I'm not quite sure—I don't think I can just ask her to marry me. And even if I could, I'm sure that as her boss it would be extremely improper for me to ask such a thing. Then your mom will leave anyway."

"Oh," Antonio frowned. He hadn't thought of that and he scratches his head. "So that's why you have to teach me magic!"

"Antonio, even if I had the time right now to teach you magic, it's still going to take years. Do you think you'd be able to beat me if I started teaching you tomorrow?"

Antonio shakes his head his frown deepens. "But—"

"Antonio, I give you my word that I will keep your mother safe and do everything in my power to keep her employed as _my_ assistant. But to do that I need to focus on _this_ threat. I need to make sure that Noah never gets to her again." Charlie pats Antonio's head stopping when Antonio scowls at him. If he remembered correctly he had never liked it when his father had done the same thing to him multiple times. "Now, speaking of your mother—where is she?"

"Sleeping on the couch, I got bored of reading—and mom said I wasn't allowed to touch anything and you don't even have a _television_! You should get one Mr. Charlie."

Charlie finished pulling on his shirt and buttoning it up. "No. This place need to remain distraction free."

"But that's _boring._ "

"It's efficient." Charlie corrects, narrowing his eyes. "What do you know anyway?"

"I know _lots_ of things." Antonio reminds him. "Lots of thing that you don't know," he mutters the last part and smiles when Charlie shoots him a look. "It's true."

Charlie grunts at this insult and heads over to his couch and frowns and leans down so he can gently shake her awake. He waits until her eyes are open before finally saying something, "Next time, I'll take the couch and you can have the bed."

Santana immediately pushed herself up, flushing, "Sorry, I just—"

"It's fine. Just let me know next time, my bed is considerably more comfortable than that couch," Charlie informs her, patting her shoulder. "Now, would you like me to call Brittany over to watch over you and Antonio while I go after Noah? Or would you feel more comfortable with my mother? My father is absolutely _useless_ to you even though he is a strong magician, it's like a muscle if you don't use it—" Charlie trails off.

"What about Quinn?" Santana presses.

Charlie is quiet for a moment, "You think I'm being cruel to her as well?"

"I don't know if you're being cruel to her, I thought you said that Quinn is a decent Magician—"

"Raw strength and being a decent Magician are two _separate_ things. Quinn has power in spades, but doing spells is no longer a strength of hers. She _barely_ passed—"

"Because of what you and Brittany did to her?" Santana presses.

Charlie stares at Santana and makes a face, "We only did—what she asked. Magic has consequences. We _know_ this. We just never predicted that would be the consequence. In hindsight and given everything I know now, I can see it now, and perhaps Quinn wouldn't have made the decision, if she had all the facts, but there is nothing we can do about it now."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"Apart from undoing what we did and even then, it's not a guarantee. Magic is odd like that," Charlie frowns, "But that doesn't matter, what matters is that I'm going to find him. I'm going to find Noah and bring him in—as you wished without putting him in traction. Though if you've changed your mind—"

"What does that mean?" Antonio asked as he flopped onto the couch beside his mom and curled in.

"What it means is that Charlie is going to keep his promise and _not_ hurt Noah, he has a daughter and he's the only one that Beth has." Santana turns to Charlie. "You _promised_. And I'm going with you."

"No you're not, you have a choice of protection but I _can't_ keep you safe and go after Noah. Even with the blocks that Brittany put in place I have no idea how strong he is, I have no idea if he can force his way through and I need to focus." Charlie frowned.

Santana gritted her teeth, she loathed feeling _helpless_ and even though she understood his reasoning it didn't make it any better. At least he wasn't going alone. "Fine—how about Brittany?" She says finally. She doesn't want to explain everything to Charlie's mother or anyone else for that matter and perhaps Brittany would be able to continue their psychic lessons.

"Can she bring over—?"

"No," Charlie cuts Antonio off. "The last time she brought over a creature, Rachel spent weeks cleaning up," Charlie informs him. "I don't think your mother wants to clean up after Brittany."

"What makes you think I'll be cleaning up after her?" Santana asks raising a brow. "Antonio can do it."

"What?"

Charlie smiles. "I suppose he could. I wouldn't have to pay him right?"

"No—"

"Hey!" Antonio scowled at his mother and then Charlie. "That's not nice!"

"Neither is volunteering me for more work than I want to do. Why in the world do you think I never joined your silly PTA events?"

"Because you said that the only people who do that are people who have plenty of time on their hands and like to boss other people around so they feel better about their miserable lives?" Antonio answers.

Santana flushes and looks over at Charlie who looks confused, he probably didn't even know what they were talking about. "I'm guessing your mother never had to bake cookies for a bake sale or anything like that?"

"My mother stopped baking cookies the moment that she shipped us off to boarding school. In fact I don't think my parents cared at all about what happened afterwards just that they were _free_." Charlie muses as he stands up. "Though if you want to talk about raising a young magician I imagine my mother has some advice that can help. I'll call Brittany and wait for her to come, before I leave."

Santana nods before pausing for a moment. Noah _hated_ Charlie, she didn't really understand why. Not when Noah was in the wrong. But she didn't think that Noah would come easily, and she didn't want Charlie getting hurt because of her silly request. "If he attacks Charlie—I know you well enough to know that you'll still try and take him in peacefully—but I don't want him to kill you or anything. You're allowed to defend yourself."

Charlie studies her for a moment and nods. "Hopefully I'll be back tonight." Charlie glances at Antonio who was giving him a strange look, perhaps he would look into his idea. He'd have to ask his mother, or maybe Quinn.


	29. Chapter 29

Charlie's lips curled in irritation as he turned to look at Lauren Zizes, she was slow, and he was beginning to question her talents. Quinn insisted that Lauren had it out for her and was some savant when it came to her discipline; natural magic. It was an oddity just like his discipline, and he was mildly curious about what she could do. Natural magic was difficult to comprehend, but it generally dealt with the ability to control and manipulate living things through magical means. It was similar to his mother's healing magic, if anything they were two sides to the same coin. "This is why I don't work with other magician's, they merely slow me down." Charlie informed Lauren his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm sorry that we have _protocols_ that we have to follow." Lauren snaps. She's tired of Quinn's male alter-ego sneering over her shoulder every five minutes.

"Even with your _protocols_ , given the situation and Noah Puckerman's _discipline_ , this is a situation where the ends justify the means. No one is going to care if you followed some silly rule book when there is a lunatic who is in the business of invading people's minds and controlling their actions running about," Charlie pointed out. "The only reason I even chose you, was simply because you have a strong psychic shield from what I've gathered. While I could take you down if you became—compromised, it would be a headache and a bother."

"And _I_ want to make sure that when we take this overgrown toddler down, that there is no reason for an appeal."

"Why would there be an appeal?"

"There's always an appeal." She rolls her eyes. Can he really be this naive? She was going to have to tease Quinn about that sometime.

"I'm aware of how the judicial system works, I'm asking why there would be an appeal when there are _so many_ victims. My assistant—Santana—she's not his only victim. There are other women—other _men_ probably that can inform the court of the horrors that he inflicted on them."

"If this guy is so _terrible_ then why haven't I heard of him? We're going on your word that he's a bad guy and yes I understand he invaded the thoughts of your Assistant and you want vengeance but what about the others? Why haven't they come forward?" Lauren frowned, it had been bothering her all day. It didn't make sense the way Charlie described Puckerman made it seem as if Noah was some sort of devil.

"Maybe they couldn't."

"Well if they couldn't come forward before, then they probably wouldn't be able to come forward even after he is caught."

Charlie shook his head, "No, they might not be which is why I believe that if we're going to do this then he should be subjected to a confession. Personally I think frying his brain so he can't hurt anyone else is the smart idea but Santana objects to that. Says it will make it worse."

Lauren's eyes widened, a confession wasn't something that they just _threw_ around. It was a last resort, and it was only used for the _worst_ of the worst. Breaking into someone's mind, forcing them to tell the truth or making them drink various serum's that would make plying the truth out had serious ramifications. It wasn't something that they just did for some mild offense. "There is no way that anyone on the council is going to give permission for a _confession_. I mean I always knew there was something off about you but so what? At worst what he did to Santana was horrible, it was a violation but it doesn't rise to a _confession_ —"

"What if I can get him to admit to something heinous?" Charlie broke in, his tone was lower than she had ever heard it and his eyes narrowing. "How bad would it have to be to get everyone to sign off on a confession?"

"How bad? It would have to be catastrophic predatory behavior." Lauren responds almost instantly.

Charlie stares at Lauren for a moment before turning his attention back to the street, "Noah apparently has a daughter, I'm not sure if that's his _actual_ daughter or some poor child he's controlling. Though given his proclivities it's entirely possible that it is his daughter."

Lauren blinks it takes a moment for her to follow that train of thought, "If what you're implying is true than that would most definitely meet the criteria for a confession and I would recommend it."

Charlie nods that's all he wants to know, he wasn't going to be able to keep his promise to Santana then. Though Noah had never been _intelligent_ , and he had always seemed to boast about his conquests. He cracks his fingers, and immediately feels the spark dance around his fingers.

~O~

Noah Puckerman glanced at his phone, nothing. Still nothing, there was no way that Charlie had figured it out but a chance encounter with Brittany? It was _possible_ that she had noticed something wrong. Which meant that his cover was blown. "We need to leave Finn, maybe head down to New Orleans."

Finn frowned and glanced at Noah, "I didn't even want to come to the city anyway, it's too noisy the people aren't that nice, it's expensive and the magicians are arrogant—it's not fun. I'm a small town boy—"

"Dude, if you're going to break out into song I swear I'll shove my foot so far up your ass that you'll be a soprano. It doesn't matter where, we have to go and we have to go _now_."

"Dad?" A small voice makes Puck turn around and his face softens. "We're moving _again_?"

He winces at the unintended reminder. He had promised her that they were here for good. Noah Puckerman might be a lot of things, but he was mostly a decent father. "I'm sorry Beth, I am but the man who hurt me found out that I was here. He's going to come after me and I don't want him to hurt you because he would—he's not a good person." His hands ached with a dull throbbing sensation, he could barely move them most days, and on rainy days the ache was worse.

Finn made a face and looked at Beth, "We don't have to move Noah, we can just—maybe we can ask him to leave us alone?"

Noah laughed bitterly holding up his hands, "Do you think someone who did this was _reasonable_? He took away my ability to do magic, I spent years with various healers and they all said the same thing. I'd never be able to do proper magic again. He took that away from me and he's probably searching for me right now. It's a good thing you did the cloaking spell or he'd be here right now."

"Well you helped, you know I never would have become a Magician if it wasn't for you," Finn admitted.

Noah frowned, that was true. Finn was a fucking idiot, but there was a reason that he had chosen to help him. It had been _practical_ , especially with Finn's discipline. "Don't worry about it—" Noah's eyes flicked up towards the ceiling as the lights began to blink, and he could practically taste the ozone in the air. He had been here before. " _Shit_."

"Swear jar!" Beth said with a grin.

"Beth, you need to go to your room. I—" Noah began before the wooden door was blown off its hinges and went flying into the room. Beth screamed and Noah immediately went to wrap his arms around her. "It's okay! It's okay— I promise."

"What's going on?" Finn asks, coughing as he comes around the counter as if he is some sort of match for Charlie's raw powers.

Charlie Fabray walked into the apartment his eyes narrowing and his hands sparking with lightning. "Noah. I'm taking you in."

Noah cocks his brow. "Just like that? You think you can waltz in here and tell _me_ what to do?"

Charlie's eyes flicked to the dwarf in Noah's arms, Santana had been right he did have a dwarf of his own. It didn't _change_ anything. "Do not make me hurt you in front of her, despite every fiber of my body telling me to put you in the ground and be done with it, I'm giving you a chance to come peacefully."

"Why the fuck should I believe you? You destroyed my life. You took away my ability to do magic, made me into some second rate assistant. You _stole_ my future from me. And for what? Because I was sleeping with your sister?"

Charlie grinds his teeth but doesn't rise to the bait. He needs to get Noah to confess to worse. "Sleeping with her assumes that she had a _choice_."

Puck rolls his eyes. "Of course she did. She wanted it. She told me that plenty of times."

"She told you that, because you forced her to. You are a predator." Charlie corrects. "Because you don't understand the word _no_. You just tell people to do whatever you want, no matter the consequences."

"That didn't seem to bother you when _you_ were the one getting the benefits."

"Getting extra dessert is not the same as what you did to her, what you've done to other women—"

"Leave my dad alone!" Beth shouted at Charlie.

Charlie frowned and tilted his head at the dwarf who was yelling at him before he raised his hand, feeling the power rise in his hands. He was done with this, with talking Noah, with dealing with this situation. He would make this quick and painless.

~O~

Brittany S. Fabray glanced at Santana and Antonio, they both looked anxious. She didn't blame them, why wouldn't they be anxious, Charlie had been gone for three hours now and she wasn't quite sure what that meant. She knew that it probably meant that he wouldn't be back until he got his hands on Noah, he had always been determined when he wanted to be. "You know, he was dropped on his head as a child," Brittany says watching as both Antonio and Santana turn to her. She smiles and runs her fingers behind the ridges on Spot's head.

"Really?" Antonio asked and frowned. He had always thought Mr. Charlie was super smart when it came to magic.

"Yeah, dad was tossing him up in the air and then sort of dropped him. I don't know how it happened. But he was dropped, dad freaked out of course. Didn't tell mom to much later, but that's what me and Quinn think caused Charlie to be Charlie. And now you know his origin story. Dropped on the head as a child."

Santana opened her mouth and then rolled her eyes when Brittany shot her a mischievous grin. She didn't need her third eye to know that Brittany was merely bullshitting them. "He wasn't dropped on his head as a child Antonio, she's just trying to distract us."

Antonio nodded, "Oh. Well when do you think Mr. Charlie will be back?"

"My brother probably won't be back until it's done. It's just the way it is, once he has a problem he does everything he possibly can to solve it. So how about I tell you about Spot? I mean it's not as good a name as Lord Tubbington but not everyone can have an awesome name like that."

Antonio nodded, "Spot won't do tricks for me."

"Probably because she's too smart and knows you're just going to give her what she wants anyway. For your first dragon a Winchester is probably the best choice to be honest, smart, loyal, fiercely protective, and sentient and they don't have some of the bad habits that _other_ dragons have. They aren't attracted to shiny objects."

"And she can spit fireballs!" Antonio said eagerly.

"I can see how that will be attractive to a young boy," Brittany said looking at Santana. "She's not doing that _all_ the time is she?"

"No, the worst is she just blows smoke at him and then walks away. I'm not sure that's good for his lungs."

Brittany chuckled, "She's sassy, but I can train her not to do that. I mean she'll probably nip his fingers instead—"

"Can she talk? Mr. Charlie said that she might be able to talk!" Antonio asked excitedly. His fears and worries gone as he focused on Spot who shot him a glance before putting her head back down on Brittany's lap.

"Charlie doesn't really care about the different species of dragon, or any animal in my bestiary. It's quite probable that he thought he summoned you a Greyling, which does have the ability to talk but Spot is a Winchester, they don't talk. They do however understand everything that is going on around them. She's intelligent has an excellent self-awareness. Also I don't think she _does_ tricks."

"But Mr. Charlie said—"

"Oh I'm sure you can train her to sit and whatever, most other Winchesters would probably do it for you to make you go away. I'm saying Spot doesn't do tricks. You probably wouldn't like it if someone told you to roll over. Or speak on command."

Antonio's brow furrowed at this, she was right that didn't quite sound like fun. "Oh, but she listens to Mr. Charlie—where is he?"

"I'm sure my brother is fine. It's his thing, he goes after Thunder Giants, and he's fine. He goes after a Mongolian death worm and is fine. He tries to drink a dwarf under the table—well mom needed to do the magical equivalent of pumping his stomach, but he was fine." Brittany said cheerfully.

Santana snorted at the mental image of Charlie drunk, she'd pay for anything to see the normally socially awkward Magician drunk off his ass. "So what you're saying is that he'll be fine? I mean even if he holds back?"

Brittany was about to answer when her phone rang, "Yeah, he's pretty durable," she frowned as she glanced at her mom's face flashing on her phone. That never boded well for any one of them. "One second, it's my mother." She said answering her call. "Mom—"

Santana winced, she could hear Mrs. Fabray practically yelling on the phone. "Is everything okay?" She finally asks when Brittany ends the call.

Brittany smiled and even though she felt guilty about doing it she needed them calm. So maybe giving them a small push with her abilities was wrong especially with what Santana had been through but she needed them to not panic. "Yeah, we just need to go my parent's place. Charlie's there, so don't worry. Mom always gets worked up when he scrapes his knee, and apparently it's _my_ fault since I'm the oldest." They would find out about his left hand when they got there.


	30. Chapter 30

Judy Fabray had never been the best mother possible but she had done her best to protect her children while still letting them build their rather _fierce_ and annoying independence away from her. Healing magic had been a blessing when it came to having three children each with rather powerful abilities. Scraped knees were not something that was normal in her household. Electrical burns and Frostbite were common occurrences as were broken bones, gryphon scratch marks and all sorts of various illnesses that she was sure that _humans_ didn't normally get. She personally blamed Russell for giving into the children's demands and getting them pets. Who gave their daughter a gryphon? Or their son a dragon. Quinn at least hadn't wanted anything exotic. " _What were you thinking?_ "

"I was _thinking_ that someone attacked my San—my assistant and I needed to make sure it never happened again." Charlie corrects himself.

If Judy had heard his little misstep with words, she didn't say anything as she pulled away from her son. She was tempted to smack him upside the head. "Well, I hope you learned your lesson because it'll be six weeks before you start doing magic again. You are extremely lucky that the breaks in your hand didn't tear any nerves. Otherwise it would be months."

Charlie paused, he was sure his mother had said weeks instead of hours. "It's a simple—"

Judy held up her hand, she wasn't going to allow her son to simply brush this aside like it was nothing. Broken fingers, three broken wrist bones, his radius and ulna had been snapped in three places and he was lucky that there had been no damage to the humorous. "There's nothing simple about it Charlie. I don't even know how you managed to move your fingers to make the hand sigils with those broken bones. What exactly did you do? Punch a wall? Because I'm still not certain that there was no nerve damage Charlie, your hand and your arm was a _mess_. Even if I heal it I'm not certain that you will be the _same_. As far as I can tell there is very minimal nerve damage, but your hand and arm need to rest and that means no magic. No hand sigils, no _anything_ that could aggravate your injury."

"I think you're overreacting, but fine how many hours am I going to be like this?" Charlie asks pointing at his hand. He had been far too focused on Noah Puckerman that he had taken his eyes off the other threat in the room. Finn Hudson. Truthfully he felt foolish, a magician of Finn's caliber would never have been a problem even though his discipline nearly cancelled his out. Well he assumed that was what Noah had believed, but all because he preferred using lightning didn't mean that he didn't have various other elements under his belt. It didn't mean that he couldn't use ice. It simply required an effort he didn't normally want to spend on silly battles.

"Six weeks minimum and that means that either you will have to come here daily so I can check on the progress that you've made. I don't want to hear you _complain_ about this. Given the extent of the injury and the location of the injuries, you're lucky that the minimum is six weeks." Judy informed him. She sighs after a moment and looks at the work that she had done. It was some of her best and even though she was irritated at her son she knew that he'd probably be fine. As long as he did what he was supposed to. Which was why she had insisted that Santana be involved in his treatment. "You don't even _like_ going out and bringing in people like this. I don't understand why you put yourself in harm's way."

Charlie didn't say anything instead he looked at the weird gelatinous substance his hand was encased in. "Noah Puckerman is a rather unfortunate stain on all magicians. I am not quite sure he even realizes that he was doing something terrible to people. To all those women that he hurt. I'm resistant to his abilities. It made sense for me to go. He _hurt_ Santana. I don't know what it feels like to not trust your mind. It's supposed to be a _safe_ space. To have someone violate that—handing him over was not what I wanted to do. But I couldn't very well _kill_ him in front of his daughter now could I?"

Judy paused, there was something casual in the hardness in his voice. He was angry, possibly enraged, that this Noah Puckerman was still walking around alive. It was enough to worry her; he didn't sound like her son. Sure Charlie had never been sweet and she doubted he was innocent but she had always assumed that he had a strong moral compass. One that he _rarely_ compromised. "Charles Reagan Fabray. I didn't raise you to be like that—"

"That implies that you and dad raised me at all," Charlie interrupts. There was no bitterness in his voice, he didn't _miss_ his parents. He stands up and wiggles the tips of his fingers. "Noah Puckerman is alive. He _is_ alive and his daughter is fine, I didn't _hurt_ her. I didn't even hurt him, though I assure you that if you had an iota of knowledge of his sins then you wouldn't be standing here and judging me. My anger is justified; my hatred is _justified_. Yet Santana who is the wronged party _insisted_ that I didn't simply wipe him off the face of the planet."

Judy studied her son for a moment, Russell had always been better at handling him. Her eyes flick over to the door and she relaxes for a moment when Antonio comes running through the entryway and makes a beeline for Charlie immediately tackling him as best as he could.

"Mr. CHARLIE!"

Charlie blinked as he took a step back and looked down at Antonio awkwardly, before patting his head. "Dwarf."

"Are you okay—your hand!" Antonio eyes widened and he stared at the purple cast.

"I wasn't paying attention," Charlie informed him brushing it off. "I'll be fine," he promises and turns his attention to Santana who seemed slightly out of breath as she finally caught up with her son. "I'm hungry, can we stop by the diner on the way home?"

Santana stared at Charlie he didn't seem horribly affected by what had happened to him and she turns to his mother. She needed answers. "Is he actually going to be okay?"

"Since you're his assistant, I'll write down my instructions. The most important one is no magic—Charlie will you _stop that_!"

Charlie raised his good arm and allowed the arcs of lightning to run across his skin. "If you think that this is going to stop me from doing magic mother—"

"Mr. Charlie my mom said you _have_ to listen to doctors. They're supposed to make you _better_ ," Antonio insists pulling on his shirt. "So no _magic_."

Santana bit her lip and nodded, that was going to be problematic, but she'd manage it somehow. If she could potty-train her son she could figure out how to stop Charlie from using magic. "Anything else."

Judy frowned slightly, "That's the most important part, but I'll write down instructions for you." She pauses for a moment and watches Antonio talking to Charlie and lecturing him, but was more interesting was that Charlie seemed to be paying attention. He had always been aloof but his attention seemed to be focused on Antonio completely. "Thank you, for taking care of my son. I don't think I've ever seen him _this_ angry before. So thank you for not letting him fall into his darker urges. Magic like that—doing that with your magic leaves a stain that he'd never be able to get out."

"He got hurt—"

"Charlie will be fine so long as he doesn't go around trying to conquer the world with his magic. I'll be there daily to make sure that he's _okay_. So you really don't have to worry about him, but I do have a request—Charlie is _better_ around the two of you, I don't know why I don't know what it is about you and your son but he is _better_. More socially aware, and I think happier in general so if it's money that you need or something else—you let me know and we'll provide it for you. Charlie needs you far more than you probably need him."

Santana hesitates for a moment; she hadn't decided what she was going to do. Running was an option, but to where? Charlie seemed to be taking this seriously but with an injury that was probably her fault she wasn't quite sure anymore. "He got hurt because I thought that I knew better, I made him hold back. I'm his assistant—when it comes to matters like this I'm sure Charlie knows best."

Judy scoffed, "My son is _many_ things. But he is not all-knowing, he needs someone in his life like you. He needs _you_ Santana. Don't let this stop you from telling him things, as far as I'm concerned broken bones are an easier fix then Charlie blowing off his hand."

Santana paused at that image and turned to Judy. "Wait has he done that?"

Judy smiles and hands Santana a jar of purple goo and a sheet of paper. "He's fine most of the time, just keep him from going down into the mines to mess around with the dwarves. Also I know that you promised my husband more dwarven ale—he can have it twice a year. One of the small bottles. If he complains remind him that I know everything, and that you don't want to get on my bad side and he doesn't want to get on my bad side." Judy patted Santana's arm and moved to go find Brittany. Charlie wouldn't tell her anything but she knew someone who would spill _everything_.


	31. Chapter 31

Three days, it had just taken three days before Santana ran out of sympathy and guilt towards Charlie's injury. Charlie had been annoying before, with his weird creatures, and his arrogance, but without his magic he was a whole new level of _irritation_ that Santana hadn't thought was possible. Every other moment, she had to deflect Charlie's questions and each time she swore it was more ridiculous than the one before it.

 _How do I brush my teeth without magic?_

 _How am I supposed to open this jar without magic?_

 _How am I supposed to eat without magic?_

He was like a _child_. A very needy child that was prone to making messes and generally annoying the shit out of her. Thankfully, Judy seemed committed to dropping by every day and reminding Charlie that _yes_ , he could still shower and shave and _no_ , he couldn't use his magic for the foreseeable future and that he was _absolutely not allowed_ to try and heal himself, or get Santana to do it.

He had to be doing this on purpose, because as far as she was concerned there was no way that he had made it this far into adulthood being completely dependent on magic. Or being as intentionally obtuse as he was. Plus, it had been three days and he _still_ hadn't filled her in on what happened with Noah Puckerman. She had thought that he would spill the beans when Antonio had gone to bed, but he had fallen asleep as well. She hadn't blamed him for that one, but he hadn't said anything about Noah since.

She turns from where she is rubbing down the counter and nearly jumps at his presence. " _Fuck_. I need to get you a bell," she snaps at him.

Charlie glanced at her for a moment studying her for a second before pointing at his arm. "Santana my arm itches and I'm not allowed to use magic—"

Santana closed her eyes and counted to ten slowly, Judy had suggested it. But it really wasn't working all that well. "You don't know how to— _seriously_? How have you managed to survive all these years if you can't figure out how to do that?"

Charlie blinked and held up his arm which was encased in the purple cast, "I don't know what you mean—"

Santana sighed, "I get it, you can do all sorts of _fantastic_ things with your magic, bend the very fabric of reality based on your will alone, I get how that can be addicting but seriously Charlie you can't figure out how to scratch your arm without magic?" Charlie gives her a blank stare and she resists the overwhelming urge to shake him. "Take a metal hanger and slip it under the cast Charlie."

"That seems rather unsanitary don't you think?"

Santana sighs, even when she did give him advice he'd come back with a comment like that. "Then don't scratch it at all, but you can either figure out a way around it or you can _quit_ _complaining."_

"I'm hardly complaining Santana; I just have no idea how mundanes manage to function on a day to day basis without getting themselves killed. How did you do it without magic?"

Santana raised a brow, "How do you do it _with_ magic? From where I'm standing it's even more dangerous than not having magic. How many fires have you started? How many explosions? How many times have you gotten _stuck_ because you are perhaps the worst shapeshifter _ever_?" Charlie opened his mouth to argue but then scowled, crossing his arms. She can't help but smirk in victory.

"My arm still itches."

"There is a coat hanger over there," Santana reminded him pointing to it. "Look Charlie, the sooner your arm is out of that cast, the sooner we can get back to normal right? Which means I don't have to do all this cleaning by myself. Why don't you wait for your mother to come visit for today and ask her how to fix it?"

"But it's _boring_!" Charlie frowns and throws his hands up in the air. "I'm bored Santana, as my assistant—"

"Charlie you aren't a child, I mean I expect this from a child, not Antonio but other kids. Kids that I don't like. Why don't you go and learn _mundane_ magic tricks for his party?"

Charlie scowled, "The dwarf doesn't want to see mundane magic tricks, he wants to see _real_ magic. But _apparently_ I can't do that even though I can still do magic with one hand."

"Your mother said—"

"My mother is just worried that I'm going to make something explode again. I am a capable magician without the use of my hands, hell I spent nearly two months in freezing temperatures to learn how to use only my _mind_."

Santana studied him unimpressed, "Your mother said no magic, you're not allowed to attempt to heal yourself because you'll probably cause your arm to explode and then there is nothing she can do about that. Why don't you get started on the work that you're _supposed_ to be doing, you can do the theory now and when you can finally use magic—"

"I already finished," Charlie interrupted.

Santana blinked, he had been rather quiet for a few hours. "You had _weeks_ of orders to fill—"

"I'm not going down to the mines to deal with the dwarves with my arm like this. They are easily impressed with magic, and if I can't pull my own weight then I'm useless to them. I can't _do_ half of the things that I need to because I can't use magic."

Santana sighed putting down the rag, bothering her was probably the only entertainment that he had, at least until Antonio came back. "I'm sorry that I told you to go in there and not simply take him out, I thought that I was doing the right thing—you should have thrown that out the window the moment that you felt threatened. You shouldn't have gotten hurt trying to do what I asked of you."

Charlie glances at his arm and picks at it, "Noah will probably be executed anyway, all you insisted I do was delay the inevitable."

It was the matter of fact tone that bothered her the most. "He has a daughter—what's going to happen to her?"

Charlie shrugged, "I don't know. I imagine they will monitor her closely or test to see if she has any magical abilities, then place her with a magical family. I imagine in twenty years or so, she will come after me for the death of her father in some ill-thought out plan for revenge."

Santana froze, "You don't care?" There was another blank look from Charlie, he wasn't thinking that far ahead and in twenty years he would probably forget about her. "And what if she does? What if that little girl grows up hating you and comes after you or me or Antonio? Are you going to have her executed as well? He's her _father_. Say what you want about Noah, he was a monster, but sometimes can make good parental figures and you ripped her away from him. And what if by then she has kids? You've started a feud. That won't end."

"And what would you have me do Santana? As far as I know that child is merely a product of Noah's illegal habits. She could have easily been the result of what happened to Quinn—"

"She's a child, like Antonio—and more importantly she's _innocent_. I don't know what you should do, I don't. I wish I could tell you what to do. But all I know is that my parents are out there planning, and making moves that might take Antonio away from me and I don't know what I would do. What Antonio would do." Santana shakes her head forcing those thoughts out of her mind, "I just don't want this to be a problem that we're going to have to face twenty years from now, because you couldn't be bothered to clean up after yourself."

Charlie tilted his head, "So you're staying then?"

"As your assistant? Yeah, I guess I am. Who else is going to take care of you?" Santana asks. There were very few people who could handle Charlie's quirks, and she didn't want to leave him alone. She believed Judy when she said that her son didn't do well by himself, she had seen the place after Rachel had left, seen how disheveled he was—not to mention Antonio would miss Charlie terribly.

Charlie was about to respond when the jingle of the front door opening forced him to turn. "Mother have you finally figured out a way to fix my arm? How am I supposed to do business with one hand, when you won't let me do magic? I'm losing customers."

Judy flicked her eyes between Santana and Charlie and noticed Santana shaking her head and rolling her eyes as she went back to work. "I'm sorry," she apologizes to Santana before moving to go behind Charlie's black curtains. She pauses, "Would it kill you to make it more inviting?"

"That would suggest that I want people to come in and bother me," Charlie grumbles at his mother.

Santana watches them for a moment wondering if she's looking at the future of her relationship with her son. She really hoped not, Antonio was going to be self-sufficient. "His arms itchy, Judy and he's been whining about it."

"I don't whine."

"You do," Both Santana and Judy said at the same time. Santana smiles when Charlie shoots her a betrayed look. "I'm going to go walk Antonio home—"

"This shouldn't take long; I'll walk with you." Charlie says immediately.

Judy raises a brow, she was unsure if this was simply because Charlie was bored, but there was an eagerness in his tone that she had never really heard before. "Sit," she barks at him, pushing him back down into his seat. It would take as long as she needed it too. For someone who loved magic as much as her son did, he was incredibly careless with his body and his hands. He probably hadn't outgrown believing he was invincible as many people did.

Santana shook her head, she'd give him five minutes, but she needed to be able to go outside and walk to pick up her son without Charlie hovering. She felt safe with him there but she didn't want to have to depend on him for simple pleasures like that. She needed to stop feeling weak and defenseless like that.


	32. Chapter 32

"You know this is against policy Charlie. If your last name wasn't Fabray and you weren't the one who brought us this case of injustice there is no way that you'd be allowed to see him. Not with his abilities."

A frown crossed Charlie's face as he rubbed the stubble on his chin, his eyes focused on Lauren as he walked through the prison. There were very few prisoners, in fact if he was a betting man he was going to assume that Noah Puckerman was the only real prisoner. At least the only magician that was a prisoner. "Governmental red tape, anyone who is anyone knows that due to my own discipline Noah can't infiltrate my mind. This has nothing to do with my last name. We really do need to get past this pure-blood jealousy that you have Lauren. I think you're a terrible Magician because I see wasted potential not because of your blood status."

"Please the Fabray's are known—"

"My father doesn't care that Brittany and Quinn didn't marry Magician's, he doesn't even care that they're blood isn't pure. He doesn't think that Mike and Rachel respectively aren't good enough for my sisters. My father and mother _want_ grandchildren. At least that's what I am to glean by my parents rather poor attempts to set me up with other magicians. So whatever you think or you believe about my family you're simply incorrect." Charlie stopped when Lauren stopped to turn to him.

"What I _know_ is that you are perhaps the most arrogant and narcissistic magician that I've ever had the displeasure of meeting let alone doing business with. I thought _Quinn_ was bad, but you are on a whole other level of difficult."

"If it makes you feel better I have very little respect for you as well. I was under the opinion that you would be watching my back, and yet here I am with a very serious injury to my hands, while you barely did any work." Charlie waved his good hand away as he turned to the man in the cell. The room was comfortable he didn't expect anything less. He flicked his eyes over the ruins, that were etched outside the cell. He recognized them just fine and he was sure he had designed one to strip someone of their magic. "I need ten minutes."

"You have five, and if you lay a hand on him—"

"If I wanted him dead then he'd be dead already. Though given his crimes and the fact that he confessed this is a death penalty case, I'd probably be doing you a favor." Charlie points out and shrugs when Lauren gives him a look. "I won't touch him. I'm only here to talk to him."

Lauren flicks her eyes to the prisoner for a moment before shaking her head and walking away. There was a part of her that knew this was a bad idea, but he was a Fabray and they were all but royalty. Even if Charlie did kill him, she doubted that there would be any consequences. "Five minutes Charlie."

Charlie ignored her and stared at Noah who stared back at him, anger and fire in his eyes. "Are you here to gloat?"

"No. I was never one for gloating."

"That's a lie. You're Charlie fucking Fabray, you live on making everyone else feel inferior to you. No one is a good enough magician for you. No one is as talented as you, you're the _genius_. The untouchable, you never lost a duel—"

"Yes I have plenty of accomplishments, and quite frankly I am the best. Most Magician's don't even _use_ their abilities; they don't enjoy—creating the way I do. Merging new magic to create new and wonderful things. They spend their time not honing their craft but doing inconsequential things like working in the financial district or being nothing more than a simple cop. The only reason I still do bounties these days is because I need to keep my skills sharp—"

"And you enjoy it, subjugating people to your will. You _enjoy it_. You belong in the cell next to me."

Charlie tilts his head, "At least I am aware that I'm subjugating people. You never once thought that your abilities might be affecting how other people perceive you? That you might be influencing their decision? You were a psychic. A rare one, the ability to tell people what to do."

"You're just upset that I fucked Quinn."

"I destroyed your hands because you _raped_ my sister. You're lucky that the only thing that I did that was destroy your ability to do magic because there was a part of me a very dark part of me that wanted to fry your brain. To turn you into a vegetable. There is still a part of me that wants to do that. Even with my hand like this it would be simple." Charlie studied his hands before locking them behind his back. "But I'm not going too."

"Should I be fucking grateful?"

"That I'm not going to kill you? Certainly not, your actions have warranted a death sentence without my involvement." Charlie shakes his head. "You should be grateful that I'm going to petition the governing body to keep you alive, and grant you supervised visitation with your daughter."

This finally gets Noah off his bed and staring at Charlie in disbelief. "You're shitting me? Why the fuck would you do that for me?"

"I'm a nice person."

"You're a dick." Noah snaps. "But fine, I'll bite. If you're not here to gloat, why the hell are you here?"

"I just told you."

"And I just said that you're a dick. You aren't a nice person. So I'm calling bullshit. Why are you doing this?"

Charlie shrugged, he didn't really know why he was doing it himself. As far as he was concerned Noah Puckerman could burn and he wouldn't lose sleep over it. "As I stated earlier, I'm a nice person. But I'm not doing this for _you_ , I could care less about you. I'm doing this because Santana, you know Santana the person you _violated_ in your idiotic attempt to get to me—cares about your daughter. That's why I'm doing this."

Noah snorted at this statement and sat back down on the cot that was in his cell, "You care about her."

"Santana is a _capable_ assistant and given my history with them, I want to keep her as my assistant." Charlie said immediately.

Noah smirked, "No, that's not it. You've never given a shit about your assistants before. They were merely the help that you hired to clean up after you. We used to be friends didn't we? And I fucking studied your fucking weak points to try and get at you. I thought if I could take away your magic like you did mine, break your hands—then you'd finally get it. It would _kill_ you."

"While you have been obsessed with me for what seems like ages, I have been doing something useful with my time. I rarely if ever thought about you." Charlie shoots back and turns when Lauren enters his peripheral vision. "It seems my five minutes are up. Don't think that this is going to be a thing Noah, like I did before I'm going to go on with my life not thinking about you or caring about what becomes of you."

"Bullshit, you're going to think about me. Every time you look at her, you're going to wonder what I _did_ to her." Noah smirked when Charlie's body stiffened. "I had her and you didn't even _notice_. I have friends you know—powerful friends. Now that I know your weakness—"

It took Lauren a full moment to realize that the reason that her hair was standing on end, and that the bitter taste that she had in her mouth was Charlie's doing. Even though his face seemed to exude a calmness there was an anger in his eyes. "Charlie."

Charlie inhaled sharply before turning to look at Noah before leaning in, "And I know yours. So this is a stalemate Noah, if anything happens to her. If she stubbed her toe and I think it's suspicious I will act and what happened to your hands will look like child's play by the time I'm through. Understand?"

Noah meets his cold gaze with one of his own, "You're not a monster," he says finally.

"Is that really a bet that you're willing to take?" Charlie challenges. "Look at your hands and remind yourself what I am." With that he turns around and walks to Lauren who is glaring at him angrily. "I didn't kill him."

"That's not _impressive_. Most people aren't murderers or killers," Lauren reminds him.

"Perhaps," Charlie mused. He wasn't going to allow Noah's words to rock him to the core. "However I promised a dwarf that I'd show up at his birthday party. I still need to find him a gift. Apparently I can't give him some dwarven ale. That would definitely put some hair on his chin and chest."


	33. Chapter 33

"Look, I get that you're feeling overprotective—especially after what happened with Noah, but I'm _fine_ Charlie." Santana sighed when Charlie turned to look at her and grunts at her, before scratching at his purple goop cast. "What I'm saying Charlie is that we can go back to normal, you know where you leave and do _this_ —going out into the field and I tend the shop and take orders, do deliveries, and you know regular normal everyday stuff."

Charlie pulled Santana into an empty elevator and moved the fingers on his good hand, as a button suddenly appeared into view and he pushed. The door immediately shut before it begun to travel downwards. "Okay."

Santana frowned, that was _easy_ —far too easy. "What do you mean okay? I'm telling you that I don't need your help picking up Antonio—I mean I know he likes it when you show up, but you don't have any other enemies do you?"

"I'm not well liked Santana, you know this. People seem to think that I'm arrogant and the seem to believe that I think that I'm better than them. There have been many people who I've angered, and some I imagine would love to see me fall. But few would risk the wrath of my father, let alone the council to simply get back at me."

"So I have nothing to fear—look I just want to get back to how things were. I don't want to be scared anymore, and you taking me to see things that I'm not used to—I'm still getting used to this world Charlie." Santana tries again and winces as her stomach flips. They were travelling down rather quickly.

"Okay."

Santana stared at Charlie, he was rarely ever this agreeable. "So I guess the question is where are we going?"

"Undertown—where did you think we were going?" Charlie questioned and shook his head. Antonio was about the same size as a dwarf, skinnier though. It would be close enough. "It's nearly Antonio's birthday, and since I can't perform magic for him—and you insisted on vetting any and all presents I may or may not give him. I believe it would be simpler if you were with me when I picked it out so I didn't have to keep returning the gift."

"Oh." Santana blinks, "That was surprisingly thoughtful of you, and I get that you won't do anything to hurt Antonio, but you don't give a boy you just met a dragon as a pet. You shouldn't just give children pets without talking about it with the parents first. No more pets—or anything that can explode and nothing that can—" Santana's jaw drops when the elevator doors slide open and reveal a huge hallway that had various statues and large sculptures that depict dwarven culture. From what she could see from the giant dwarf carrying a large warhammer, it was a warrior culture.

"Come along Santana we have to get to the Commons. I want to get to look at their wares _before_ the bustle of the crowd. Last time that happened I lost all my money."

Charlie said opening his coat so Santana could see a small sack of what she assumes was golden coins. "Charlie—I don't—how the fuck is there _all of this_ —how far down are we?" It was rather warm, and she had images of lava being used to heat the city.

"The Dwarves have been around since—I don't quite remember but there have always been dwarves, and they've always had these cities. Most of these people have never seen a sky before, it's amazing." Charlie informed her. "Only dwarves can live like this, but let's not get into dwarven culture today. It's a complex system and I disagree with it on principal. That being said this place is _quite fun_. Where else can you get drunk and punch someone in the face without getting in trouble. Or participate in gladiatorial combat that doesn't involve magic."

Santana stared at Charlie as if he had lost his mind, probably due to his boredom more than anything else. "That doesn't sound like something that you of all people would enjoy." When Charlie turns to look at her she shrugs, "I mean you're happy in your little space, working on creating new magic and you enjoy that."

"Sometimes, I enjoy blowing off some steam," Charlie insists and frowns. "Is that the correct saying? Perhaps not, Brittany says it all the time to me. I still have very little idea of what it means. Now come along, before all the good ale is gone."

"Antonio is turning seven Charlie you are not giving him some alcoholic beverage. It's _illegal_."

"Is it? Dwarven children are given ale and they turn out to be functioning members of dwarven society, with all its prejudices and the horridness of a caste system. I find it troubling that you would _tell_ a child what to be when they grow older, it wastes potential. They of course don't see it that way. It's an interesting philosophical discussion."

Santana shakes her head and instead focuses on keeping up with Charlie's blistering pace, she was in shape but Charlie's gait was twice the size of hers and she needed to jog to keep up with him. She frowned and reached for his hand grabbing it. She had seen Antonio do it a few times to control Charlie's pace and she had no problem taking it for herself. "Slow down."

"Right, of course, you're dwarf-sized— _ow_! What was that for?" Charlie grimaced rubbing where Santana had pinched.

"I am of average height, you're the freakishly tall one," Santana informed him bluntly. Charlie tilted his head and opened his mouth before turning his attention back to the walls. He had probably learned from multiple sisters when it was best to keep his mouth shut but she couldn't help but feel that he was learning.

Charlie glanced down at his hand for a moment and then back at Santana before turning to point to the light source, blue crystalline structures that matched the color of his lightning. "I did that you know. That's some of my work." Charlie informs her.

"You did this?"

"Yes it was during my apprenticeship, the magician I was under found me to be—irritating—so she tasked me with creating an easy light source for the dwarves. They used fire, which is considerably dangerous especially down here. I of course thought it would be simple, _light bulbs_ were a thing. Unfortunately, the dwarves don't really _do_ or understand electricity. An impossible task, while I can tap into other natural forces such as fire and wind, I can even freeze things with a bit of concentration, light was not one of my strengths. At least creating a simple and efficient light source that didn't require _me_ to be actively pumping out enough magic for the entire city."

"So what did you do?"

"I—" Charlie paused and then smiled. "I'll show you."

There was pride and an eagerness in his voice and all Santana could do was nod. "Alright." At least he wasn't explaining it in a difficult and convoluted way. Like she knew what the Whittock paradox was. "So what were you thinking of getting Antonio for his birthday?"

"A dwarven axe or a sword. I promise you that no one makes it like the Dwarven smiths. It will last a generation."

Santana stops and gapes at him. "You're going to give my son a _sword_? Are you insane?"

"I don't think so?"

"A sword is _dangerous_."

"Oh. No, it's really not. Especially not to Antonio. Dwarf children, and adults really, are incredibly—"

" _No_."

"Then perhaps a suit of armor—that seems a bit much how about just the helmet?"

Santana rolls her eyes. "I'm beginning to realize that the dragon was apparently the best and safest gift idea that you had. Why couldn't you just get him something normal? Like—maybe the Harry Potter series? Given that weird is the new normal, he could use that."

"I thought about giving him a beginner's guide to Sanskrit, but I didn't think that he'd appreciate it. I'm not going to give him poorly written _fantasy_ books to read." Charlie frowns and studies Santana. "If I can't do magic for him, I can't get him a sword, you said no to explosions and another dragon what can I get for him?"

"I don't know, what did you get for your seventh birthday?"

"Nothing?" Charlie frowns. "It's another day to me but it seems to be _important_ to Antonio, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered."

"Nothing? I mean yeah I know your parents shipped you off to Hogwarts lite, but they didn't get you anything?" Santana frowned, Judy loved her son and so did Russell she couldn't believe that they would just forget.

"No, my parents had birthday parties. Quinn had them every year as did Brittany. I never went to any of them. Not that they didn't offer mind you, I just never saw the point. Parties are for those who had friends and I did not. So I read in my room."

"You didn't even get cake?"

"Santana, do you think that I needed to eat cake on _my birthday_? I never understood why people did that. Cake is _delicious_ , I have cake at least three times a week. I apologize for not knowing what Antonio would like, but I don't have a wealth of knowledge on what boys his age would like."

"Antonio would have appreciated the book on Sanskrit, as long as you went over it with him. He likes spending time with you. He probably would enjoy being here right now and want to hear everything about this underground city. Sure he'll probably beg for another dragon, and yes he's disappointed that you can't perform for him and his friends, but he understands that you're hurt and shouldn't be doing magic."

"I can't take him _here_ ; they'll mistake him for a hairless dwarf! Or they'll give him dwarven ale and he'll get bullied by all the other dwarves."

Santana sighed, he had missed the point. "Why don't you show me how you created the light source and then we can look around the market or whatever and if I see something that Antonio would like then we'll get him for him. Surely they have toys like figures or maybe like smaller versions of those statues."

Charlie seemed to brighten at this, "We can do that—actually there's a place nearby. Come on let me show you."

~O~

Santana grunted as Charlie kept his hands over her eyes, "If you let me fall or bump into a wall—"

"I won't, and don't worry we're almost there."

She wasn't sure why she was even indulging him, but his excitement was infectious. "You said that ten minutes ago."

"Well we were close then, but now we're _really_ almost there." Charlie reasons. He veers left guiding Santana before he stops for a moment, and then nudges her to take a few more steps. "Alright are you ready?"

"I was ready ten minutes ago," Santana reminded him attempting to pull his hands off her eyes, "Charlie!" She snaps at him and feels him slowly letting go.

"Okay, you can look."

Santana pulled away from his hands and opened her eyes, blinking at the warm blue light that filled her vision. It takes her a moment to register where she is when her jaw drops, "You did this?" She demands turning to him. The place was beautiful, crystals jutted out from the wall, and seemed to be growing from the ceilings and on the walls, which would have been beautiful on its own, but they were _glowing_ a soft bluish purple hue.

"Well sort of, they already had crystals, rooms of the stuff. I was just the one to realize that they contained magic, I don't understand how. Perhaps over the years however they formed absorbed the magic that leached into the ground. Dwarves don't have magic like I do but they are capable of enchanting things with runes and sigils and the like. How do you think I became so good at my wards? Once I found the right frequency that they resonated with, all I needed to do was give it a little—spark. And once I did, everything lit up like this. When they find new crystals all they need to do is just give it a little tap against an activated crystal."

Santana watches as he demonstrates with a blank crystal, holding it up against one of the glowing jewels. It pings and the clear rock flickers between glowing in a matching hue. "Charlie, this is _gorgeous._ "

"Is it?" He looks around and shrugs. "Sure, I guess so. I figured out that there's a way to change the color, but I think the blue light is soothing. Don't you?"

Santana nods and reaches to touch one of the crystals, it was warm to the touch and it felt like it hummed under her fingertips. "It is—I mean I didn't expect this! I thought you had created a miniature sun or something—" Santana waves her hands at the thought. "Wow—is that why you come down here often?"

"No. I come down here often because my father tried to negotiate with the dwarves about my discovery. He wanted to make some money off the whole thing. He then got drunk on Dwarven Ale and then made a deal with them for the best ale for the rest of his life. I didn't mind really. I was just pleased that the magician I was apprenticed too finally took me seriously. I thought she believed I was going to fail." Charlie reached out to grab one of the crystals. His father had told him that women appreciated flowers. He concentrates feeling the magic build and slowly ebb its way into his fingertips as he slowly morphs the crystalline structure into the shape of a flower. One that glowed lightly and he offers it to Santana. "Here."

"Charlie, this is amazing." Santana gasps taking the flower for him and glancing up at him. His cheeks seemed to be flushed and he looked slightly uncomfortable. "I _love it._ And I think I know what you're going to get him for his birthday."

"You do?"

"Yeah and I promise not to tell your mom that you used a bit of magic." Santana promises with a smile on her face.


	34. Chapter 34

**AN: Thanks for letting me know, btw I realized I had skipped a chapter as I do. So Chapter 32 has been replaced with the proper chapter 32.**

* * *

"It was kind of your parents to let us use their brownstone for the party," Santana offered trying to get the sour look off Charlie's face. "They're just being nice and I really do need to apologize to your father for blowing him off when he tried to help me."

"I don't see _why_ we couldn't do it at the shop. My shop is perfectly respectable," Charlie mutters under his breath. "I also don't see why my parents and my sisters have to be there." He turns to look at Antonio, who was holding the present that he had given him.

Antonio grinned at Charlie, "I invited them because that means more magical presents," he said excitedly.

" _Antonio_!" Santana says turning to him in shock.

"Smart." Charlie nods, pleased with the answer.

"Charlie, don't _encourage_ him!" Santana snaps at him, it's a losing battle as Antonio flashes Charlie a wide mischievous grin. "Besides, I don't trust you to make your place safe for all those children who will be running around. What you consider dangerous and what I consider dangerous—well they aren't even in the same universe."

"I doubt that, anything that I find dangerous you would undoubtedly find dangerous as well. It's the things you find dangerous that I don't," Charlie points out with a shake of his head.

"You wanted to get Antonio a sword!"

"You got me a sword?" Antonio's eyes widen and he immediately shakes the box that Charlie had handed him.

"No, I didn't. Your mother said no," Charlie responds with a look at Santana. "I told you he'd like the sword."

"Him liking the sword was _not_ the issue. You're not getting a sword Antonio, it's dangerous," Santana groaned, this was quickly becoming into a nightmare.

"Oh. Can you get me a sword?" Antonio asks turning to Charlie.

"No _swords_!" Santana snaps and glares at Charlie who nods. " _Charlie_."

"Fine. No swords. Apparently they're too dangerous." Charlie said as he picked at the hardened purple goop on his wrist. "What I fail to understand Santana, is why you seem to think that my parents are any more responsible than I am, or have any idea on what is safe or not safe for your son."

"Your father works a _normal_ job," Santana points out.

"My father also gave my sister that feathered hell beast, and gave me my first dragon. We had our own miniature bestiary out in the country. Then there are the—"

"Why do you think we're going there early? So I can walk through the house and we can deal with any problems that might arise. They already agreed to no magic in front of the mundanes, they seemed insulted at the idea that they would put any of them in danger." Santana sniffs, "I didn't mention that you put on a magic show for Antonio and his class, but I bet they'll find out anyway. The kids really do like you. Everyone was disappointed when I told them that you couldn't do magic because you had injured yourself."

"I can still _do_ magic—" Charlie insists.

"Not in front of your mother you can't," Santana reminds him. "And nothing too complicated."

"It's okay Mr. Charlie, you can do it when your hand gets better. Is it getting better?"

Charlie wiggled his fingers and grimaced, there was a stiffness in his fingers and the joints still ached. It hurt to do basic magic now, but it wasn't something that he personally shared with Santana. Or with anyone for that matter, pain wasn't going to stop him from doing magic. He still had his fingers, he could still do magic. "They don't hurt nearly as much as they did before," he says simply. He ignores the look from Santana, instead choosing to point to the door. "That's their place over there." Charlie informs Antonio who breaks away from in between the two of them and runs up the stairs so he can knock on the door.

"Are you actually okay? I mean his present—"

"I'm fine Santana or I will be, the bones and the ligaments are still healing, I'll worry about any lasting damage then," Charlie interrupts. He flushes and looks at her, "I apologize for how curt that was. I would just rather not think of the alternative."

"It's okay to be afraid, it's even _normal_ to be upset about it," Santana whispers to him. "But how about now we focus on making sure that you get better. So unless it's a matter of life or death no more magic."

Charlie scowled and picked at his cast again, "It's _hard_ —I don't know what mundanes do every day but it's like telling them not to breathe."

"Well—" Santana begins taking Charlie's hand. "Let's get you focused on other things. I mean you're going to teach Antonio everything you know about the stars right?"

"I suppose so, it's not an area of expertise, so I imagine learning about it should be interesting enough," Charlie commented. He glanced down at his hand, she was holding it again and once again it made him feel odd inside.

The door swung open and Russell greeted them, "There's the birthday boy!" He grins wide and immediately ushers Antonio inside. "Come on! You can open your gifts before the other mundanes come. I'm sure you'll love the gift I got you."

"Thank you Mr. Fabray," Antonio said shooting a look at his mother and smiling. He had remembered his manners.

"Call me Russell—" Russell stops talking his focus on his son, more specifically the fact that Charlie seemed to be holding Santana's hand. He nearly trips as he pushes Antonio inside, his eyes wide. It was finally happening. And unlike his other children his son was actually giving him a grandchild. A grandchild who was old enough to use the bathroom on his own, and could communicate his wants and needs. He knew Charlie was his favorite for a reason. And to think he had nearly given up hope, all Charlie had needed was to find himself the right woman, and Santana seemed to be it.

"Magical gifts?" Santana pressed immediately taking a step up the stairs and letting go of Charlie's hand.

"But of course! Don't worry it's all perfectly safe," Russell stressed.

Santana turned to look at Charlie who shrugged, "Charlie thought it was acceptable to give Antonio a dragon—"

"Every boy needs a dragon. Teaches them responsibility!" Russell informed her.

Santana opened her mouth to protest when Charlie walked past her on the stairs, "I hate to say I told you so but—" he trails off and slides past his father.

Santana groaned, the party started in an hour and the brownstone looked _massive_. She would need to search it from top to bottom to make sure there wasn't some secret portal to Narnia that a child could fall through.

~O~

Santana wrangled the kids to the best of her abilities, and though Charlie wasn't sure why she seemed fixated on making sure that all of the kids stayed within her line of sight.

Charlie wasn't quite sure what she _thought_ was going to happen, but he knew his parents weren't careless enough to leave anything dangerous laying around. It was endearing to him to see how much she cared about Antonio and he watched her furrow her brow with a soft smile.

"You really should just ask her out." Quinn notes, rolling her eyes as she pokes at her cake.

"Out where?"

"Please, not even you are that stupid. Take her somewhere quiet and nice and get to know each other. Ask her _out_."

Charlie shifts uncomfortably. Wasn't that what he had been doing? He would probably need to ask Santana later because maybe he hadn't really been clear. Though he wasn't quite sure what he wanted, which meant that Santana couldn't possibly know what he wanted. "I thought you were mad at me."

"I'm always mad at you."

Charlie nods at the accuracy of that statement. But this time, it was more and unfortunately only _he_ knew that. "Yeah. But look—"

"Don't talk to him, _Quinn_. He's a traitor." Rachel huffs and sits down on the open seat next to her wife, coincidentally across from Charlie.

"It's fine." Quinn dismisses with a wave of her hand.

But none of them are really buying that and Rachel is the first to speak up. "No. It's not. It was completely unacceptable for Charlie to bring in a wanted criminal and use _Lauren_ to do it and frankly I don't think we should talk with him unless he fully and completely apologizes—"

Rachel's rant is cut off when Brittany runs into the room, her cheeks flushed as she tries to catch her breath. "Have any of you seen Lord Tubbington Junior?"

"Brittany—"

"You're kidding—"

"You _lost_ him?"

All three of them gape at her. Charlie frowned, he had made enough mistakes in his life with Lord Tubbington that he wasn't about to let his guard down. Especially with Lord Tubbington's evil spawn. Why Brittany had even decided to breed the hell beast was beyond him. "You had better find him before Santana finds out."

Brittany scowls at her brother and ignores Rachel's rant about irresponsibility. "Look. Just help me find him?"

Rachel grimaced, "I'll stay here and make sure that no one leaves the room, you three need to find it and quickly. Before your parents find out," she adds the last part. The last thing she needed was Russell and Judy blaming her for this mess. As far as she was concerned it was Mike's fault. He should have made sure that Brittany hadn't brought along any of her creatures.

Charlie stands up immediately, "Gryphon's like shiny things and they're natural guard creatures—"

"I know that," Brittany hissed at him smiling when she drew a few stares from the children. "This is what I do for a living."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Did you check our parent's room? That's where all the shiny stuff is. All the important magical stuff is locked away up there as well. It would make sense that's where he'd go." She frowns when both Brittany and Charlie turn to her. "I _know stuff_."

Brittany glanced at Charlie a guilty look on her face. "I know that, but I never thought that zoology was something you thought about."

"Mike comes in all the time to make sure you have the correct permits for your zoo—"

"It's really more of a conservation."

"Whatever you still need permits," Quinn rolls her eyes. "I have to do some research into the classifications to make sure that you get the correct ones. Your little gryphon sanctuary is a nightmare waiting to happen. Just wait until a mundane stumbles upon it."

Brittany stuck out her tongue. "I know what I'm doing, and someone needs to look after those creatures. We're destroying the planet, some of them are near extinct. How many Selkies do you think are in our oceans with all the pollution?"

"It's still a problem waiting to happen," Quinn responds. "We _still_ have Bigfoot sightings, and Yeti settings. People hunt for that stuff and you're keeping them all in one place. Don't you think Charlie?"

Charlie shifts when both his sisters turn to look at him. He hated when they did that. "I thought we were here to find the feathered hell beast before it _ruins_ Antonio's birthday or Santana gets upset with me."

"I think getting Antonio a rock and a book on stars did that," Quinn muttered under her breath.

Charlie flushed and scowled as they headed up the stairs, "Santana told me he'd love it," he insists.

"Because mother's know what their son's want? Mom and dad both gave up on trying to get you things that you liked," Brittany points out.

"I liked books, and they never got me the right ones," Charlie frowns as they turn towards their parent's room. The door was open and just a crack and he frowns. "How big is this hell beast Brittany?"

"You know was well as I do that Lord Tubbington Junior isn't a hell beast, I don't have any Hell beasts on my conservation. They aren't endangered—"

"And it's impossible to get a permit for one," Quinn adds narrowing her eyes as she glares at Brittany.

"That too—but still, Lord Tubbington Junior is a _baby_ gryphon."

Charlie pushed the door open, and stared at the miniature gryphon that was as big as a regular sized house cat—a super fat regular sized house cat. "I still don't understand how it can fly." He doesn't flinch when the Gryphon stands up on its hind legs and hisses at him.

"I've always wondered that myself," Quinn murmurs her assent.

"There you are Lord Tubbington Junior; I've looked _everywhere_ for you!" Brittany says as she slowly approaches him. "No need to be scared, I'll take you back to daddy soon!" Brittany promises in a soft tone.

Charlie rolls his eyes, "Let's get out of here before someone comes looking for us. I don't want to get blamed for your bad decisions Brittany."

"My bad decisions? I brought Lord Tubbington Junior here for Antonio to play with before all his friends arrived. I have to teach him that all gryphons aren't evil because _someone_ calls them feathered hell beasts, even though _he's_ the one that stepped on Lord Tubbinton's tail."

"It was a fucking accident that stupid beast attacked me before I could apologize and I refuse to—"

"What are you guys hiding from me?" Quinn interrupted causing both Charlie and Brittany to turn to her. "Don't give me that look. I know you're both hiding something from me. I'm not stupid. Going to Zizes? Having a secret meeting with the prisoner. The prisoner's name was _redacted_ —and I've heard talks of execution but whenever I try and find out more everyone at work shuts me out. I know that this person went after Santana but I don't know why you wouldn't come to me."

Brittany hesitated, "I'm not hiding anything from you."

Quinn narrowed her eyes and turned to Charlie. "I'm not as mad as Rachel is—but I _know_ that you would never have gotten hurt if I had your back. I just want to know why? Is it because I'm not as good—"

"Quinn," Brittany said taking a step towards her. She frowns when Quinn takes a step back. "That's not it at all! Charlie tell her!"

"Noah Puckerman." Charlie said after a moment of internal debate. Brittany turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "The person I brought in was Noah Puckerman. You don't remember him, but he went to school with us. He was a psychic, specializing in a form of mental manipulation. The school was unaware of it, it's a rare subset of that discipline I don't think that they were fully prepared for it."

"He—did something to me didn't he?" Quinn pressed, she wasn't an idiot and the glare that Brittany was shooting Charlie was enough to tell her that there was a lot more to the story and she personally didn't want to know. Something in her just didn't want to know.

"Yes. You asked Brittany to take it away, the memories everything he did to you. So she did. I didn't bring you along because I wasn't sure if it would bring up memories. I understand why you're upset about Zizes but as far as I was concerned, the more pressing matter was making sure that he never hurt anyone again." Charlie finished.

"You weren't supposed to ever find out," Brittany offers. "You've been _happy_ , you don't remember being victimized, we didn't want that for you again."

"Okay." Quinn said after a moment. There was a part of her that wanted to remember, but she had seen victims before in her line of work. The idea that she would suddenly revert to that person? It scared her. "Does mom and dad know?"

"No," Charlie and Brittany said in unison.

Quinn nods, "I need to think about this for a while. I don't want to keep news away from Rachel but if she knew this—I don't want her to know anything so can you just you know take her ire for a bit longer? She'll probably let it go eventually."

"It's fine, Rachel is always angry at me for something or rather. I don't take it personally." Charlie scratched the back of his ear. There was a part of him that wanted to get to the bottom of this whole going out thing, he went out with Santana all the time. They went to places all the time, lunch, dinner but that didn't mean that he could hold Santana's hand all the time. He would have to do some research on this going out thing. Maybe his father would know.


	35. Chapter 35

**AN: Okay I keep getting questions about Mirrors. It's complete, it was never going to be this whole thing where I write out about their relationship, mostly cause I felt the story was kind of weak and transforming it into this thing seemed like it would be a headache. But have no fear, I'm already working on another smut piece and this one will have a heavy dose of story to go along with it, I mean chapter one is smut. Chapter 3, 4, 5 is smut. But you'll get that eventually, when it's completed. Until then there are other short stories that can pop up.  
**

* * *

" _Whoa_! I didn't know it could do _that_!" Antonio shouted from his bedroom.

Santana shook her head and headed to her son's room, smiling when she noticed that it was lit up with the night sky, all the stars and celestial bodies were clear as day and they took up his entire ceiling. Charlie had created something amazing for her son, who had already grabbed the thick leather bound book on Astronomy that Charlie had given him to see what it said. "You know, now that we have magic in our lives you can't just go assuming that things that look boring _are_ boring. We've seen some really weird things these past few months. I mean you have a pet dragon Antonio."

"I know but—it's a _rock_."

"Well no, it's a very special crystal. Did you know that Charlie brought _light_ to the dwarves in Undertown? He's sort of a folk hero down there. You should have seen how many people came up to him to talk about their magical problems and needs."

"Really? He never told me that," Antonio frowned as he realized something. "You went to Undertown? And you didn't take me?"

"I did, it was to get your present, I had to make sure that Charlie didn't get you something dangerous like a sword or a flail, or a suit of armor." Antonio looked ready to protest and Santana shook her head, "When you're older and _taller_ , you can go down to Undertown with Charlie. I only say this because I'm not sure if he sees you as a _dwarf_ or a child, and I really don't want him to forget you and accidentally bring home a dwarf."

Antonio laughed and flops back on his bed. "That does sound like something Mr. Charlie would do."

"I know right?" Santana moves to the bed and runs a hand through Antonio's hair. "If you have any questions or want to know more, he said he'd teach you everything he knows about Astronomy."

"Really?"

"I knew you'd like that." Santana nods and takes a seat on his bed, so she can look at the book that Charlie had given him, it didn't seem that difficult to read, and it had pictures. "Oh, by the way I know that Charlie is going to teach you but remember he's not allowed to use magic. I think his hands have been causing him pain, but he's not telling anyone about it. All he needs is an excuse, and you can't give it to him. Can you imagine how upset he'd be if he couldn't do magic?"

Antonio nods and bites his lip. "If Mr. Charlie can't do magic anymore—does that mean we're going to leave? I like it here."

Santana shook her head, "No, we're not going to leave. Can you imagine how'd bad this place would be if I left him alone for a few days? We'd be lucky if this place was still standing in a week," Santana tickles his side, she didn't want him to worry about it. Today had probably been the best birthday party he'd ever had. They weren't dirt poor anymore, which meant that she could afford to give him things. It wasn't _just_ them, and while Charlie was her boss, he had sort of given them a family and a place to call home. Cake, Ice cream, nearly twenty kids had been there and she had been able to feed them pizza and juice and as far as she could tell they had fun. Antonio had even got to pet a baby gryphon, much to her and Charlie's disbelief.

Antonio smiled, "Good, I like it here and today was _fun_. It was the best birthday _ever_! Thanks mom."

Santana nodded and kissed his forehead, she's quiet as she watches Antonio flip through the book and look at the artificial night sky. "I don't think I want to leave either. I mean even though some of this stuff is _scary_ , and I'm worried about you all the time, I think that this place is good for us, the both of us."

"Yeah," Antonio nods. "Do you think Mr. Charlie will tell me the story so I can write it down for school?"

"You can always ask," Santana rubbed his tummy as he yawned, "Alright time for bed Antonio, you can read the book tomorrow," she said prying it from his hands.

"But mom!"

Santana, grinned and kissed his forehead, "Yeah, that doesn't work on me anymore, I'm immune to your whining."

He huffed at this dramatically, and was about to pout but he yawned instead. "Fine, you win this time," he said.

"I'll always win," Santana replies before heading out, she pauses for a moment but Antonio doesn't ask for his nightlight. She moves the door so it's open a crack, enough for Spot to squeeze in when she decided that she wanted to sleep instead of being the creepy dragon that she was. At least she hadn't started to hoard things, like Brittany said she would. Then again she didn't exactly have anything shiny just lying about. She stretches and glances at the leftover cake and the presents that littered her living room and sighs. She cuts a slice of the cake and opens the freezer to scoop out some ice cream before opening the door to her place and walking across the hall to Charlie's apartment and knocking on the door.

It swings open after a moment and Charlie blinks and stares at her, "Santana?"

"I brought some ice cream and some cake that I thought we could share, to you know unwind after dealing with all those kids today. "Antonio's sleeping, he loved your present once the magic started, didn't even need a night light."

Charlie steps aside and lets Santana enter. "I'm glad, I was thinking that I might have to get him that sword after all."

Santana narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm going to pretend that you were joking," she flops on his couch and frowns. "I forgot the spoons," she sighs and makes a move to get up.

"I've got it," Charlie said heading to his kitchen and grabbing two spoons before returning to sit beside Santana, offering her one. "Did he enjoy his party?"

"I think he believes it was the best day ever, he can't wait for next year or Christmas." Santana pauses and looks at him. "Do you celebrate Christmas? I just realized that I know nothing about your holidays."

"Of course we celebrate Christmas Santana, what do you think we're savages?"

"You believe in the birth of Christ?" Santana asked taking a bite of the cake and ice cream mix.

"Of course not," Charlie rolled his eyes. "Christmas was a Roman pagan holiday before it became Christmas. My family doesn't believe in the religion, we do appreciate a good completely commercial holiday where we can gather and eat good food. We don't really do the presents or the tree."

"Oh," Santana frowned slightly. "It's just—this is going to be the first Christmas that Antonio and I will have together where I can afford to spoil him rotten, I mean I don't plan to make a habit out of it, but I want to make up for six years, where I could barely afford to get him clothes. I was going to go all out. I mean he'd love to have you there but if you need to be with your family."

"Will there be food?" Charlie asks.

"Well yeah, I was planning to make—"

"I'll come. I don't actually like spending time with my family, I'd rather spend it with you. But they might show up."

"That's fine, Antonio loves your parents and your sister, and it'll feel like Christmas." Santana is quiet for a moment. "Wait how can you not believe in Jesus?" Charlie gave her a look as he took a bite of the cake. "I mean _come on_. You can do—oh. Was he a Magician?"

Charlie shrugged, "No idea, I don't particularly care."

"Well what about Santa?"

"No."

"That's disappointing, you mean you have all this power and you can't you know make sure that kids get the presents that they want?"

"Do you have any idea how much magic that would take?" Charlie shoots back.

"So no flying reindeer—"

"I can make reindeer fly just fine."

Santana laughed, he sounded almost earnest. "Fine, I'll stop asking you about fictional characters."

Charlie takes another scoop of ice cream, "The reason that we don't reveal ourselves to humanity, is twofold. Humans are afraid of what they don't understand, and two there is a chance that they may worship as gods. We're not. The last thing we need is more religions cropping up on this planet."

Santana nodded, "I can see the reasoning behind staying in the shadows. Were the Salem Witch Trials—?"

"No self-respecting Magician would be caught by Puritans, let alone being burned at the stake," Charlie sniffed. "No, they weren't even magic adjacent. They really did hate women back then, they hated anyone who was different. But there was a lesson in that."

"Yet you did magic for children."

"Why not? Children's imaginations aren't rigid yet, they can _believe_ anything. They will believe anything. To be that young and imaginative again—with everything I know now?"

Santana shudders, "I can see the explosions and fires now."

"I said with everything I know now—"

"You caused a fire a few weeks ago before your hand got hurt," Santana reminded him. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a pyromaniac." She leans against him after putting the empty bowl down. "It's a good thing I know better."

Charlie studied Santana she seemed to enjoy touching him, it must have been where Antonio had learned it. He had never like people touching him but when Santana did it he didn't mind. He didn't even mind when Antonio did it, but Antonio didn't make him feel weird like Santana did. Something to think about.


	36. Chapter 36

**AN: Okay, having another sounding board drive, I need people to bounce ideas off of. I also need people who have a thick skin, cause I'm a grumpy person half the time, and I will shoot down ideas. Which could be disheartening. I also need someone to be critical of me, I really don't want people to tell me my ideas are great if they aren't my ego is massive enough. I'm wrapping up a story and I could use another pair of eyes.  
**

* * *

"So what about Harry Houdini? Or David Copperfield? Teller and Penn? Criss Angel?" Santana pressed, she was enjoying this game _immensely_ even if Charlie wasn't amused.

Charlie sighed he didn't know who half of these people were, let alone why Santana kept throwing names at him. "I _do_ know, that there are Magicians that belong to the secret ' _magic_ ' society. Illusions and cheap trickery for the most part. Many of them _are_ illusionists, but from what I remember they are monitored. Their act can't draw attention."

Santana frowned slightly, "So what you're saying is that there are but none of the big names are illusionists?"

"What I'm saying is that they _can't_ be, there are mundanes in this world who hunt for magic, who truly believe that magic exists. They look for it everywhere, _Bigfoot_ , the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster. Now imagine if there was a magician who _did_ things that no one could explain? From what I understand of the circuit, which isn't much to be completely honest with you, magicians attempt to steal each other's tricks, or recreate them to disprove it. Now imagine you have a trick that you can't disprove? Now what?"

"Well, it would draw attention wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would. Of course with our influence in the mundane world it wouldn't matter, if someone claims to have photos of bigfoot or _aliens_ for that matter what is the first thing that you think of?"

"Stay away from the crazy person who is clearly off his meds—" Santana narrows her eyes. "Wait, so what you're telling me is that there's this _global_ conspiracy?"

Charlie frowned slightly, he didn't actually _like_ having gaps in his knowledge, but he personally had never cared, "If you have questions I suggest asking my father the next time you see him, I'm sure he'd _love_ to tell someone about his job. Though you must be _prudent_ and vigilant my father is difficult to deal with when he wants something."

Santana rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to _abandon_ you for your father Charlie, I mean who else is going to make sure you don't burn down the neighborhood."

Charlie huffed at this, "I do know what I'm doing."

"Clearly you don't because your mother was _specific_ about not wanting you to do magic Charlie," Santana reached for his hand that was still in a cast, it had been three weeks already she was expecting _something_. "What happens if it doesn't work?"

"Then I teach myself another way," Charlie said simply. "I've already begun to gather the research necessary in case I _do_ need to learn another way. I assume that there have been Magicians who have had debilitating diseases or have lost their hands, I wish to know if they continued to do magic and _how_ they managed to do it. It's all quite fascinating."

Santana nodded and let go of his hand, "I'm sure it is, do you have anything done that needs to be delivered? Or anything that needs to be picked up?" With Charlie not working the only thing that she had been doing was taking orders and promising people that Charlie would get to it when his hand finished healing. Her job had never been boring before, with all the intricate magic and creatures that Charlie seemed to bring in with him.

"I've managed to get a few things done given the circumstances so people can come and pick up their orders, don't worry most of it was research based."

"Good, your mother will be here sooner or later and if she catches you doing magic again—well I don't know what she'll do maybe turn you into a frog." Santana laughed when Charlie shot her a dry look.

"My mother would never—actually I don't quite know." Charlie admitted as he headed to his little alcove to work. "Best to remain on her good side."

"I think so," Santana smiles before heading to the counter. It would probably be another slow day, which meant that she could catch up with reading about the differing magical schools. Russell had sent over every pamphlet with the promise that they would take care of it and that Antonio's magical education was important to them. She wasn't quite sure _what_ Antonio wanted other than to have Charlie teach him magic. She wondered if he could do both, if he could remain in the mundane world and be taught magic. She wanted Antonio to have options, the options that she had lost. She crinkled her nose slightly, she had been expecting a school of magic to have a more exotic name like _Hogwarts_ , but these names sounded _boring_. "Really the John Adams Academy?" She muttered to herself.

Charlie poked his head out of his little workshop and looked at her, "Don't send him there, they are _terrible_. Also the reason for the boring names is that it gives the students the ability to attend a _regular_ university when they graduate if they so choose."

"Oh," Santana smiles, that did make sense and she was even more grateful to Russell then she had been before. He knew that she wanted him to also have a normal life. "I was thinking about that you know, Antonio becoming a doctor—or a famous surgeon. If he had the abilities that your mother had."

Charlie studied her for a moment, "I imagine it's possible, if that's what he wants."

"He's seven, I don't think he _knows_ what he wants yet. When did you decide to do all this?"

"The store? It wasn't my idea; it was my father's. As a way for me to make money and to sell my ideas to people. I had nothing better to do with my time, and my father sold it to me as a way to _help_ other magicians. While using what I earned to further my research." Charlie eyes flick to the door, "We have a customer, deal with them, I'm going back to reading."

Santana rolled her eyes. He was the boss and really he wasn't good with dealing with strangers to begin with. But his attitude could use a bit of work. Manners were a good thing. "Right." She sighs and shifts, he generally could tell when someone was about to enter the store. So she shouldn't be surprised. She forces a friendly smile on her face when the door opens and turns to the door. "Welcome to Pandora's—" Her mouth drops when her eyes finally rest on the woman in front of her. "I thought you were dead." She flicks her eyes towards Charlie little alcove when the black curtain shifts, he was there and he was _listening_. It's comforting, to know.

"I wish I was." Her abuela sniffed, eyeing the shop around her with disgust. "At least if I was dead I wouldn't have to see my only granddaughter working in an antiques shop."

"What are you doing here?" Santana asked the first thing that came to mind.

"Your parents sent me. Lord knows why they'd bother but if they couldn't talk some sense into you, they thought I might be able to convince you to stop making a laughing stock out of the Lopez name and come home."

"So they sent you? That was their big play?" Santana scowled.

Maribel glanced around the shop, and ran her finger along one of the bookshelves frowning when she noticed the dust that had accumulated on her finger. She wasn't even good at her job. "No, I am not their _big_ play. They _hoped_ that I'd talk some sense into you before decisions were made to force you back home. Sebastian has been doing some _soul_ searching and he believes that as Antonio's father, he should spend time with his son. He's planning to sue you for custody. It took some convincing to discuss it with the Smythe's, but they agreed that it was the best course of action."

"Sebastian handed me three hundred dollars to terminate. Which was _fine_ , I never asked him for a penny. He didn't want to be a part of Antonio's life. He can't _now_ decide to stroll into Antonio's life like it's nothing."

"We doubt a judge will see it that way, as you know the Smythe's are _very_ connected his father is the State's attorney after all. Sebastian has _money_ , he has insurance. He can afford to send the— _boy_ to the best schools, of course your parents will help pay for it. As embarrassing as his existence is, it's manageable."

"He's my _son_." Santana snaps at her abuela, the anger and hurt rising up. "He's not an embarrassment he's—" she can feel the lump in her throat getting bigger. It _hurt_ far more than she would ever admit, that they saw him as a mistake. They should love him unconditionally; they should have loved her unconditionally. She had thought that their love was unconditional till she had gotten pregnant.

"He's inquisitive, intelligent and creative. I personally enjoy his presence," Charlie said announcing his presence and moving towards Santana. His eyes narrow slightly at the woman who was causing her pain, wondering if he could get away with zapping her, just a small zap. Instead he turns his attention to Santana and places a hand on her shoulder studying her carefully. "Take a breath," he murmurs to her. He waits until she does, before smiling at her. "You okay?"

Santana nods, she takes another shaky breath. "Yeah, thank you." She turns to her abuela. "Well you can tell my parents that you _failed_. I'll fight them if I have to. I have friends, I have family and I can afford a lawyer. This won't be _easy_ and I won't _lose_." Saying it with conviction, didn't mean that was how she felt. The worry would gnaw at her.

Maribel narrowed her eyes studying the tall man in front of her, "And who might you be?"

"Charlie Fabray," Charlie responds and frowns. His father had always criticized him for throwing it out so casually. When his father introduced himself it seemed to cow people into submission, they worried about what he would do. He simply didn't have that _gravitas_ when it came to dealing with people. He straightens up as best as he could. "You're in my shop and I would like to ask you to leave, you're upsetting my—Santana. You're upsetting Santana."

Maribel frowned, noting the misstep that he had made. "This is a family matter, so if you'll please. I didn't raise her to work in a dirty _shop_."

Charlie's eyes widen slightly, "I've forgotten to feed the Brownies!" They were probably on strike and he hadn't noticed.

Santana sighed, trust Charlie to freak out about that _now_. "I'll grab some honey on the way to pick up Antonio this afternoon."

"The _good_ honey Santana," Charlie insists.

"Right, of course," Santana shook her head. This was her new normal, and even though Charlie was freaking out about honey, it was endearing in its own special way. She turns her attention back to her abuela who was staring at her in horror. "What? I have a job."

Charlie tilted his head slightly and frowned, he was generally aware of who entered his shop these days. It was part of his new security measures. She had barely been a blip, he had assumed it was some assistant. Someone similar to Mike, someone who had been born into a Magical family yet they were simply unable to do any magic. He hadn't given it much thought people like that were _common_. Rachel fell into that category though she could do simple spells. "You're not exactly a _mundane_ are you?"

Maribel went pale, it had been _years_ since she had heard that term. "I have no idea—"

Santana frowned and turned to Charlie. "What are you talking about she's my _abuela_."

"Well, I did wonder where your magic came from. Who was in your line, that could have given you magic. I thought it was something that had simply died out a few generations ago in your line, it has been known to happen. We don't fully understand it ourselves. Your parents didn't exactly set off any alarm bells, she doesn't either but she's got enough magic in her—"

"I do _not_ —Santana it was bad enough that you're working in an antiques shop as a cashier, but joining some demonic—Satanic cult—"

Santana frowned, Charlie was never wrong when it came to magic, well not this type of magic, he was horrible at certain spells even if he fancied himself the Albert Einstein of Magicians. "I don't get it—why would you turn your back on all of this?"

Charlie shrugged, he understood mundanes were simply ignorant, but to him the greatest sin was turning your back on magic. His father, even though he worked with mundanes had never turned his back on Magicians, on the system. "Taking into account her age and attitudes during that time period, I _imagine_ that she came from a family like mine. Pure-blood, the scandal that it would have caused to not be able to do magic—either she left on her own or like you—" Charlie trailed off. It was speculation.

Santana bristled at his words, "If she knew how it felt to be rejected by her family then why—" she turns to look at her grandmother and for one brief moment she sees guilt and horror. "Get out." Her voice was eerily calm. She loved Antonio, and there was nothing he could do that would make her become a hypocrite. Sure she'd get upset with him for knocking up a girl but she would support him and make sure that he got a job and still went to school so he could support his family. She wouldn't kick him out because he had made a mistake.

"Santana—"

" _Get_ out!"

Charlie flicked his wrist, and the door to the shop opened. "You heard her." He stops for a moment and tries to emulate his father, "You know who we are and you know how much power we have, I suggest that you go back home and talk to your family about what a stupid idea it is to cross us." He watched as Maribel scurried out of his shop and immediately flicked his wrist again closing the shop and making sure that the sign read closed before turning his attention back to Santana. His shoulders slump as he studies her. "I'm sorry."

Santana takes a shaky breath, "Don't be, I should be thanking you. At least now I see the damn hypocrisy in my own fucking family."

Charlie nods, unsure of what to do. "Would you like a hug?" He asks after a moment and flushes when Santana looks at him like he's grown another head. "You seem upset and Rachel—" he was not the best liar. He trails off and looks at his little alcove.

"You really need to stop using Rachel to learn how to act like a normal human being Charlie, I doubt Rachel's a _normal_ human being. If you want to give me a hug you can just hug me—" Santana paused when Charlie's arm wrapped around her and he pulled her to him, hugging her tightly. She relaxes for a moment just taking in the warmth of his body. He was attempting to make her feel better, and she was surprised that it was working.


	37. Chapter 37

"Look Spot, Mr. Charlie's door is open which means that he's not busy. Let's go get him to teach us about the stars." Antonio informed his pet dragon, who didn't look pleased that she was currently being dragged along by the seven-year-old. Antonio pushes the door open with his shoulder, "Mr. Charlie?" he calls out, remember what he was supposed to do, even though Mr. Charlie was _not_ supposed to be doing magic. He frowns when he doesn't immediately spot his favorite person in the world and is about to turn when Spot manages to wriggle free and fly clumsily onto the couch, where there's a small grunt of displeasure.

"What are you doing here?"

Antonio eyes widen and he quickly scrambles inside to apologize. His mom would be annoyed if he interrupted Mr. Charlie doing a spell and he caused a small explosion. "I'm really sorry Mr. Charlie, she just got away from me," he insists and frowns when he sees Charlie laying on his couch. "Are you sick?"

Charlie flicked his eyes to Antonio for a moment, "No, I don't think so. Hopefully not, the last thing I need is my mother forcing one of her homemade remedies into my mouth and making me take it. It's disgusting."

"Oh, when I'm sick my mother makes me take this gross medicine too. It's supposed to taste like grape but it doesn't." Antonio nods.

" _Mothers_ ," Charlie grumbles, shifting his feet off his couch so Antonio could climb on. He leans back on his sofa and stares at the ceiling.

"Yeah," Antonio agrees and reaches for Spot who was now digging her claws into Mr. Charlie's sofa and tearing it up. He glances back at Mr. Charlie but he hadn't seemed to notice. "Does your arm hurt?"

Charlie looks at the purple cast not noticing as Antonio lunges for Spot who jumps out of the way and continues to scratch up his sofa. "No, not really. My stomach on the other hand—it feels odd. Well not _now_ , however—it generally happens when I'm near your mother. It gets worse when I touch her. Does it happen to you?"

Antonio frowned and finally grabbed Spot who immediately began to wriggle, "No. That's weird isn't it—when did it start happening?"

Charlie paused for a moment and smiled, it was an excellent question. Antonio was beginning to think like a magician. He pauses for a moment, "Around the time that _Noah_ was in our lives, perhaps it's something he did."

"Oh. Do you think my mom is cursed?"

"No. I did a check on her several times, she's not cursed. At least not that I can see. I'll ask my mother to do another check. Maybe I'm not supposed to be able to see it," Charlie muses and crosses his legs. If he could pinpoint the exact time, it was after he had broken his arm. "It's probably not a curse. He was locked up and Noah can't do magic like that. I mean it seems rather harmless, doesn't it? My stomach feels odd. It's not a very good curse."

"Yeah, it's pretty lame. But what else could it be?" Antonio asks.

"I don't know." Charlie admits. "I'm not sure," he waves his hands over the books that litter his coffee table. "I did some research and _nothing_. I was going to talk to my mother about it."

Antonio nods, and holds the book up so Charlie can take a look at it. "I was wondering if you would teach me about the stars. I thought the present you gave me was _super_ cool."

Charlie eyed the book carefully and raised his good hand about to do a spell when he stops and frowns slightly, "Not at this moment, my mother's coming and the last thing I need is for her to be annoyed with me and lecture me for using magic. How about after she leaves."

"You're not supposed to be doing magic," Antonio reminded him with a frown.

"I'm not supposed to do a lot of things, but I do them anyway—don't tell your mom I said that she'll be upset with me." Charlie frowned, something about corrupting the dwarf.

Antonio puffed out his cheeks, "I _promised_ her that I'd tell her if you did magic and I can't lie to my mom! She _knows_."

"Of course, her third eye," Charlie grumbles.

"Yeah, she's been using those glasses that you gave her a lot these days, so I can't lie to her about anything." Antonio huffed and fell back on the seat. He watches as Spot gets free and jumps onto Mr. Charlie's arm and begins screech at him.

Charlie raised his arm and stared at Spot. "No. You're not getting treats, you tore up my couch." He informed the dragon before letting her down on the ground. He watched her spit some smoke at him before walking away from the two of them. "You need to stop spoiling her Antonio, she's getting spoilt."

"I'm sorry about your couch."

"Don't worry about it I'll fix it later."

"With magic?"

"I'll ask my mother since it's her fault I can't do magic." Charlie grumbled he didn't like being watched like he was a child all the time. He was being watched by a dwarf this whole thing was _humiliating_.

"It's _hardly_ my fault that you can't do magic, you're the one that wasn't careful and got your hand hurt," Judy informed her son as she entered his apartment. She loved her children, but Charlie's whining was just as irritating as it had been before.

Antonio grinned, "Hey Mrs. Fabray. Can I watch you work on Mr. Charlie's arm?"

Judy smiled at Antonio, "Of course you can, and what have I told you Antonio you can call me Judy." At least, he could call her that until her son got his act together and Antonio became her grandson. He was such a polite young man, she was rather impressed with Santana's parenting.

"Cool! Oh, and you have to make sure that he's not cursed! He says his tummy hurts around my mom," Antonio continues.

Judy blinks and turns to look at her son, trying to keep her face neutral. "Pain or just an uncomfortable feeling?" She asks as Charlie extends his arm an annoyed look on his face.

"It's not pain, my stomach feels odd, not quite right. It's difficult to explain, perhaps if I could use magic—"

Judy rolled her eyes, "You can't. Besides you're not sick and you're not cursed. I have an idea of what's going on with you." She grabs her bag and places a jar on the coffee table and adjusts Charlie's arm so it's above it. She turns to Antonio. "Now watch carefully Antonio, I'm going to show you the bones in his arm and hand, so we can see how it's healing."

"Really? How do you do that?" Antonio asked leaning in closer so that he can get a better look.

"Like this," Judy said making a few gestures, " ** _Argitzeko_** _._ "

Charlie made a face, as his arm began to glow a bright white, and the purple cast seemed to melt off his arm, returning into its original gelatinous form inside the jar. "Really _Basque_? What are you trying to teach the boy?"

Judy ignored her son, and turned her eyes to Antonio, he was watching with such wonder. "Come a bit closer and have a look, see you can see his bones through the skin."

" _Whoa_. Mr. Charlie I can see your bones!" Antonio said, reaching to touch it. "Why are there are places that are more bright than the other?"

"That's a good question Antonio. The dark areas is where the damage is, those are the places that I need to reinforce with magic. When he first got injured there were far more dark spaces than light, but as you can see he's healing well enough. After the bones heal then I can work on getting the slight nerve damage fixed, it will take a few sessions, and then finally he can start working on exercises for his hand so that the muscle comes back." Judy explained.

Charlie sighed, "This is all well and good but what's wrong with my stomach."

Judy sighed and began to move her hands, making a few signs and mumbling under her breath for a moment, ignoring how her son hissed in pain. He was such a baby sometimes. "Does this only happen when you're around Santana?"

"Yes."

"You like her."

"Of course, I do she's my assistant." Charlie insists, he thought that much was obvious. "When can I do magic."

Judy sighed, he was healing well, not as well as she would have liked and she was sure he did a few spells here and there. "Simple magic, nothing strenuous, and I'm talking about what _normal_ magician's find strenuous. No complex spells." She narrows her eyes at Charlie who finally nods. "If you can wait for two more weeks Charlie I would."

"I can't," Charlie insists, watching as his mother reapplied the cast.

"Wait—does that mean you _like_ my mom?"

"I already said I did," Charlie reminds Antonio.

"No I mean _like_ you want to kiss her and stuff."

"Of course, not that would be highly _inappropriate_. I'm her _boss_ ," Charlie insists. "I would never."

"Oh. I still think you should marry my mom," Antonio shrugs.

Judy froze, it seemed that Charlie had heard this suggestion before. "Well, you asked me what was wrong and I told you Charlie. You _enjoy_ spending time around Santana, I imagine that this feeling only happens when you're holding her hand. You _want_ to be near her don't you—"

"She's my assistant of course I want to be near her."

"Because you enjoyed spending time around Rachel, Artie and Mike?" Judy retorts simply watching as it suddenly clicked. "While I'd love for Antonio to become my grandson, I don't think that you should just _propose_ to her."

Antonio blinked and turned to Judy, "You want to be my grandma?"

"I already think of you as my grandson, so does my husband," Judy smiles at him warmly. "We'd love for it to become official, but that might take a while, if we're going to depend on my son to do something normal."

"I'm right here," Charlie reminds the two of them.

"Yeah, maybe he should get her flowers!" Antonio suggested. "Girls like flowers, right?"

"Some do," Judy agrees gently patting his head. He was such a sweet boy.

"Still here," Charlie reminded them.

Judy began to put away her things, "I know. If you want my advice—and I know you're going to say you don't, but that feeling isn't just going to go away. Ignoring what you feel won't do anything. God forbid, she decides to date someone else while you feel like this. I don't think I want to see you jealous. I'd tell you to go ask your father for advice, but you want her to _like_ you back."

"I don't—" Charlie begins. "I just want to hold her hand and maybe occasionally give her hugs. Dating sounds boring."

"Dating is when you get to know someone, to make sure you're compatible," Judy informs him. "It's something to think about, but if you do start dating there needs to be clear rules because you do _work_ together."

"Yeah, if you marry my mom does that make you my dad?" Antonio asked.

Charlie turned to Antonio and then looked at his mother, he blamed her for this mess. He didn't know how to respond to that question. "Uh—"

"Well, that depends on your mother Antonio, you'd have to ask her," Judy informs him coming to her son's rescue. They didn't need to scare him away before the dating even happened. Charlie _adored_ Antonio, so she didn't see it as a problem, but it would take time for him to grow into that role. He liked being Antonio's friend.


	38. Chapter 38

Santana fought the urge to snap as Charlie tried, unsuccessfully, to hover around her without rousing suspicion and tried to focus back at the task at hand. She wasn't going to give her parents, or the weasel that had formerly been known as Antonio's sperm donor the satisfaction of having any opportunity to force her back to her po-dunk hometown.

"So, what are you doing?" Charlie asked finally.

"Balancing my checkbook. Putting money in Antonio's trust—the better question is what aren't I doing."

"Okay. What aren't you doing?" Charlie asks.

"It's a figure of—you know what? No. What are you doing? Shouldn't you be brooding in your little cave?" Santana nods towards his workshop. He had been around all day. "I don't have time to entertain you Charlie. I've got work to do."

"I don't brood. I don't want you to entertain me, that's why you had a dwarf—" Charlie winced when Santana narrowed her eyes at him. "I mean—well I'm hungry and its lunch time. Let's go to lunch—you know together."

Santana groaned, the thought at eating at the diner again didn't appeal to her. She had no idea how he managed to eat the same gross greasy food nearly every day. They didn't even have a proper salad, and she was worried that Antonio was beginning to think it was acceptable to eat like Charlie did. He wasn't a magician yet, and he wasn't a teenage boy. "I think I'm going to pass on that—"

Charlie frowned and looked at the paperwork. Perhaps this hadn't been the best time to do this whole thing, but it didn't really matter at this point. "Okay." He responded about to head back to his workshop. That hadn't gone as he had planned perhaps he would need to look at the cards that both his mother and Antonio had made for him. He would need to study them, asking her to lunch had seemed to easy. They went to lunch all the time, he wasn't quite sure if it meant that they were dating and he could hold her hand any time he wanted.

Santana blinked he had a strange look on his face, and he looked somewhat dejected. He was probably bored and wanted her company, it was the least she could do. He had been keeping Antonio busy these last few days so that she could meet with her lawyers. Which was something that she needed to talk to Charlie about, she didn't want to offend Russell and Judy who had been very good to her, but she wanted to pay for the lawyers herself. Having Charlie talk to his parents seemed like a terrible idea, but maybe he would have an idea of how to broach the subject with them. "Look, Charlie—I just really don't want to go to the diner today. So, I mean if you know somewhere else that we can go to."

"I do," Charlie insists. Everything suddenly making sense. This was something that was special, he could afford to take her to a nice place once in a while. That's what Quinn did for her date nights. He knew the perfect place. He immediately reaches for her hand and takes it, pulling her along. He's not sure why that weird feeling in his stomach was still there, but it was. Maybe his mother was wrong about the root cause. He liked Santana far better than any of his other assistants, and he liked having dinner with her. She was competent and if she didn't know something she asked. She also managed to be a buffer between him and his family, and she hadn't fallen in love with Brittany or Quinn. As far as he was concerned he would do anything to keep her at his side. "There's this lovely place in Undertown—"

Santana tugged her arm back from him, "Everything there sort of tastes like dirt. Antonio might like it but I certainly don't. I know a place, but you can't order everything on the menu and eat it like you normally do. You do realize that's unhealthy, right?"

Charlie frowned slightly, "I use quite a bit of magic every day Santana, I need to replenish all that energy lost somehow. You do remember that magic has a cost, right? Since I am a pureblood, I produce most of the magic myself, it runs through my body. It's what keeps us looking youthful. That being said, that energy needs to come from somewhere. That's why we eat the way we do, I personally need to."

Santana sighed and shook her head, well he did normally end up paying for their meals so if he wanted to eat like he normally did, he could it was just be a slightly more expensive affair. "Well, I don't understand why you simply don't eat at buffets."

"I do! Unfortunately, the only ones that I know of are too far from the shop. However, if you wish to dine there as we have before with my parents it would be nice, right?"

Santana bit her lip, it had been fun. The food had been amazing and made to taste the absolute best, each dish had been prepared perfectly. "Alright, fine. We can go to one of your magical buffets. If only because the deserts are the best part. We'll have to bring something back for Antonio, he doesn't think it's fair that we get to do all these magical things without him."

"I don't think he'd mind—but you're right, we'll get a to-go bag. I'm sure he'd love that." Charlie nods reaching for Santana's hand again.

Santana blinked and studied Charlie carefully, this was the second time he had held her hand in a day. He wasn't the most physical person out there. The most Antonio got out of him was a firm head pat on good days. They generally needed to be the one to initiate the contact but here he was doing it on his own. Maybe he had grown in some ways. "You do realize that you have freakishly long legs right Charlie and I can't keep up with your pace."

"Right—I forgot," Charlie mumbles slowing himself down. "The dwarfs complain about it too," he frowns when Santana pulls her hand from his hand and smacks him in the shoulder hard. "What?" Santana merely rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him. He puffed out his cheeks, this wasn't going all that well for him.

~O~

"How'd it go?" Antonio asked Charlie excitedly. If it worked out then it would mean that Mr. Charlie would become his dad, and that would be awesome. He didn't know why his mom was busy lately but it always seemed that she had to go out all the time these days.

Charlie rotated on his seat from where he was currently reading a massive book, his symptoms had simply gotten worse. He was beginning to think that his mother had no idea what she was talking about. It wouldn't be the first time that it had happened. "It went well, didn't your mother mention it. We talked, I held her hand. I was mistaken about dates, they aren't boring. Though it could be because I already know who your mother is."

"Oh, so you're going on another date?"

"Well, we'll probably have lunch again tomorrow. I think your mother had fun—didn't she give you your to-go bag?"

"Yeah, I had chicken nuggets, and pizza, and fries! Plus, there was the best ice cream ever! How did they do that? Wouldn't the ice cream melt?"

"Well, there are several spells on the bag—though honestly it's a rather ingenious use of an area infinitum spell," Charlie mused mostly to himself, he reaches for the massive book that he was reading and slams it shut. I imagine we could attempt to recreate the bag. It could be your new lunch box."

"Really? Will I get to eat ice cream at lunch?"

"I imagine so, though I think that everyone would be jealous of you if you got to eat ice cream and they didn't. Plus, your mother would probably not be happy that you were eating ice cream every day," Charlie frowned, she'd get upset with him and inform him bluntly that he was ruining her son. "Where is your mother?"

"Busy with work, she said that I should say thank you for dinner before I have to get ready for bed," Antonio's eyes widened comically. He was only supposed to say thank you. "Mom's going to be super mad at me if I'm not back. I was only supposed to stay for five minutes."

"Well, you better hurry back then." Charlie pointed out.

"Will you come over and teach me about Orion next, you said you would." Antonio begged.

"Maybe tomorrow night, I need to do some research Antonio. Plus, I need to go over these cue cards that you and my mother made for me."

Antonio nods, solemnly. That was super important to him as well, learning about Orion could wait a night. "Alright, goodnight Mr. Charlie."

"Night Antonio." Charlie responds reaching over and patting his head clumsily with his good hand.

Antonio grins and heads back across the hall to the apartment where his mom was still at the dining room table, looking at a lot of papers. "Back." He announces when she doesn't look up at him. He wasn't sure what she was doing but he didn't like it. She had never been too busy for him.

"Uhuh, go have your bath and I'll come and get ready for bed." Santana responds still not looking up. She would need to upgrade Antonio's health insurance she wasn't going to give Sebastian an inch, she wasn't going to let any judge determine what was best for her son.

Antonio puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms over his chest, "What's going on mom? Mr. Charlie said your date went well, did it?" Mr. Charlie was weird, he knew that, but he didn't think that he'd lie about this.

Santana's head snaps up at the statement. "Date? What date?"

"The date that you went with Mr. Charlie today. I'm seven mom, I'm not stupid," Antonio crossed his arms over his chest. "You can tell me. I like Mr. Charlie and I think it'd be cool if he was my dad."

"Your dad?" Santana echoes.

"Yeah, my dad. I know you don't want to talk about him but I think I want Mr. Charlie as my dad. He can do magic and he's really nice and he always makes time for me. Plus, if you got married it would mean that he'd always be here and you wouldn't be alone all the time."

Santana stared at Antonio like he had grown another head, she knew that her son adored Charlie, she had encouraged it. It was good for the both of them. Charlie showed remarkable clarity sometimes when Antonio was around. Antonio needed a male figure in his life to talk about guy things. Though she was sure that Charlie was not the person for those talks. "Antonio, Charlie is my boss. And I don't think he—"

"He said your date went fine today! He told me. You went to a magical restaurant and he held your hand."

"That's not a—he never asked—" Santana inhales sharply. Antonio had never really been curious. He had never really asked any questions about Sebastian and she had never offered the information. She still didn't know what she was going to tell him when he asked. This however was a disaster. Charlie was—well he was Charlie. "Time for bed," she said weakly. She needed to wrap her head around this.

"But—"

"Mijo, I know you have questions and I know I've been busy lately, so can you wait until this weekend and I'll tell you everything about what's going on. I promise."

Antonio scowled at this but nodded and pulled away to go and get ready for bed. It wasn't fair. His mom still treated him like he was a baby. Mr. Charlie had never treated him like a baby. "Fine. Goodnight mom."

Santana watches him storm off, she didn't like his attitude, he was too young to be copping one on her as far as she was concerned. It was to be expected, both she and Sebastian had been snarky little shits when they were teenagers. But at this moment she had more pressing things to do, like find out why Charlie was telling her son that they were dating. She'd have to wait until Antonio was asleep however before going over there and ripping him a new one.


	39. Chapter 39

Santana didn't bother to knock on Charlie's door as she entered his apartment, the door was opened which generally meant that he wasn't knee deep in some spell that required concentration. But it had taken awhile for her to finish working, and for Antonio to get to sleep. It was the first time her son had seemed annoyed at her and she wasn't quite sure how to handle it. She should have told him about Sebastian years ago, but he had never asked and she didn't know how to tell her son that his father hadn't wanted him. That even after all these years Sebastian didn't want anything to do with him. Antonio was a good boy, Sebastian would be lucky to have him in his life. But right now, she had more pressing concerns to deal with. "Charlie?" She called out. He wasn't on his couch or in the kitchen. She had never ventured any farther into his apartment. It was dark and he seemed to live in his living room. Plus, she wasn't sure what Charlie kept hidden in his apartment, she wasn't even sure he knew.

"Did you bring cake and ice cream?" Charlie asks from behind her, causing her to wheel around and stare at him. He holds up the grocery bag, "I got the Brownies jam and honey this time. I already left a jar out for them. It must be boring to eat the same thing day every day."

Santana stared at him, and blinked, she had known she had forgotten to do something today. "Shit, I forgot—"

"It's fine, you've been busy." Charlie said dismissively. "I didn't hear them scurrying about for the past few nights and I realized that we hadn't been feeding them. It explains the dust. They go through honey fast." Charlie puts the rest of the jars on his counter, and turns to look at Santana. She didn't have a plate of cake and there was no ice cream.

Santana shifted uncomfortably glancing at his arm that was in a cast, "Doesn't matter, even if you're injured I still have a job to do and you're injured. I just—Antonio is the most important person to me in the world."

"I understand. Besides, it's not like I can do anything complex for the next couple of weeks." Charlie informs her. Being helpful was something that Antonio had written down, and he was trying to do just that. Even though he wasn't quite sure what brand the Brownies liked he had gotten everything he could find.

Santana paused, and pushed away the guilty feeling that she had. She was supposed to be pissed at him. To be angry, to be enraged at what he had done. She wasn't supposed to give him a pass, just because she sort of felt sorry for him and guilty that she hadn't been able to get as much work done as she had wanted. "Antonio is my everything, and I know things between me and Sebastian are awful—"

"Who is Sebastian again?" Charlie interrupted frowning and scratching his head.

"Antonio's father." Santana hissed at him, she was sure she had informed of this fact multiple times.

"Right, okay I got it," Charlie nods. "Continue."

"Sebastian is Antonio's father, and do I wish that things were good between the two of us? Yeah, I do. I wish that Sebastian and Antonio could be close, or that Sebastian wanted to see his son. I wouldn't mind doing this if I knew that Sebastian honestly wanted to spend time with his son. Hell, I probably wouldn't be doing all this at all."

"Okay?" Charlie frowned, he wasn't quite sure what to do with this information that Santana was giving him. "Are you telling me that you want me to turn him into a toad?"

"No. I mean it would help but no!" Santana inhales. "I'm trying to say, that you're not Antonio's father."

Charlie stared at Santana, "I know."

Oh. She had expected more of a disagreement. "Okay, then why does my son think we're dating?"

"Well dating would imply that we had been on more social outings together than a mere lunch. While our time today was pleasant, I would think that it would be premature to assume we were dating."

"Social outings—" Santana shakes her head trying to wrap her mind around it. "Wait, today was a date?"

"We held hands," Charlie nodded as if it explained everything. "I always thought that this dating thing was boring, but it's rather easy. Don't you agree?"

Santana stared at Charlie a look of confusion etched onto her face. She had known he was socially awkward, but she hadn't thought he was this bad. She wasn't opposed to going on a date with him, but there was no way in hell he was getting off this easy. "It is easy, but it only counts as a date if both people know it's a date."

"I held your hand." Charlie points out again.

"I didn't know it's a date! You didn't ask me to go on a date with you. You asked me to go to lunch with you. We've been going for lunch nearly every day, how was I supposed to know that this time was different because you held my hand? We've done that too by the way."

Charlie frowned at what Santana had just said and went to the coffee table, and pulled out a pile of cue cards, flipping through them earnestly. He finally pulls one out and shows it to Santana. "But I did what it said," he insists.

Santana pulled the card from his grasp, and read it over, the handwriting was far neater than Charlie's own and she squinted at him. "Who wrote this?"

"My mother."

"You asked your mother how to ask me out on a date?" Santana glanced over the cue card again. She wasn't sure whether she should be amused or offended or if she should just pity him. "Don't answer that, it was rhetorical." She read over the cue card, it was wildly inoffensive, it just simply suggested that Charlie should ask her to lunch. Judy probably hadn't known that Charlie did that daily.

"Well, Antonio suggested that I get you flowers as well," Charlie shrugged showing Santana the other cue card. "His original idea was that I ask for your hand in marriage."

Santana's eyes widened, she didn't want to believe that her son had been roped into this but that was his child-like writing, she'd recognize it anywhere. "What?"

"I said no of course, that would be the height of impropriety," Charlie explained. "However, I was certain I was cursed because whenever you were in close proximity, my stomach felt odd. My mother explained that I apparently had feelings for you so I needed to do something about it. So, we went on a date. I thought it went well."

"Except I didn't know it was a date," Santana points out flatly. She can feel a massive headache coming on. No wonder Antonio was confused. "What have I told you about cue cards?"

"Not to use them?"

"Yes, not to use them. What was your plan we keep going to lunch until you randomly ask me to marry you? Or you—I don't know drop your pants in front of me because you think that after the third date we're supposed to have sex."

Charlie recoiled at the idea, "I don't want to have children with you Santana!"

Santana took a deep breath, he was odd, and he probably didn't mean it the way that she thought he did. Still it was a rather hurtful thing to say. "Because I'm not a Magician?"

"No, because that's how babies are made." Charlie responds, he didn't have the hang-ups of various other purebloods. He simply didn't want to deal with any babies.

"I—" Santana closed her mouth, there was no point in trying to convince him otherwise at this point. "Wait, you've never had sex?"

"Of course, not, do you see any children running about?" Charlie sniffed indignantly.

Santana sighed, she wasn't going to go there. It wasn't that Charlie was old-fashioned, he was just weird. Too weird sometimes. "My point still stands, you never asked me out on a date. You just wanted to go to lunch with me—"

"We held hands," Charlie insisted.

"You still need to ask!" Santana snapped at him swatting his arm. "You do realize that my son is seven, he doesn't know anything about dating or girls or anything of the sort. I wanted to have time to enjoy his innocence."

"He told me to get you flowers, would that have worked?" Charlie questions.

"You know what would have worked? Not getting my son involved, he's seven Charlie. He's young and he doesn't know better. It also would have been better if you hadn't used the damn cue cards. You know what might have worked just asking me out like a normal person. 'Hey Santana would you like to go on a date.' I'm not a mind reader—unless there's something about this 'third-eye' that you're not telling me about."

"You can't read minds, that I'm aware of. It would make it easier to talk to you if you did. But I'm afraid my thoughts might give you a headache." Charlie mused mostly to himself. He shifts uncomfortably. "I'm sorry and you're right. I should have made myself more clear in my intentions. Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Santana froze, she hadn't thought this through at all. Of course, Charlie would then ask her out on a date. He was her boss, what would it mean if they broke up or it simply didn't work out. She already knew that Antonio would be disappointed. "Charlie, you're my boss—"

"I am aware of that. Do you not find me desirable as a future partner?"

"No, it's just—" She pinches the bridge of her nose and tries to wrap her head around all of this. "You are my boss and going on dates, even if you ask, would make it complicated."

"Make what complicated?" Charlie pauses for a moment. "Oh, is this what Rachel meant by sexual harassment? I don't want to harass you, you're free to say no and that will be that."

"Well, you're not harassing me, and I know your mother and your sisters, and your father so I mean if you were I think I'd just tell them," Santana points out, watching as Charlie scowls at the idea. "I'm just—look—I just—what happens if we date and then things go wrong. Or we fight and you decide that you don't want me to work for you anymore? Then I'm out of a job and Antonio is heartbroken. I like this, what we have right now. I mean and if all you want to do is hold my hand then you can do that. I mean I think it's weird but we can do that." Santana swallows watching Charlie's face for anything. "Besides, I have the whole battle with my parents. The last thing I need is for it to come out that we're dating, they'll probably just say that I'm sleeping with you for your money or something."

"Why would sleeping in the same bed be a bad thing? Also, given what I've seen of your parents, it would probably be best to have my parents deal with them." Charlie shrugged. "Not magically of course, I imagine your grandmother would be able to notice. But my family is old. Old and ambitious with a sizeable bank account to back it up. My father and mother both adore you, and I believe they already think of Antonio as the grandchild that Brittany and Quinn won't give them."

She shakes her head. The Fabray's have been more than generous and she wants to solve this on her own. "I promise, if it comes to that your parents will be my next call. But once my parents are forced to see that they can't swoop in and take control of my life, this will all go away. Once it does, then I might say yes if you actually ask me on a date."

Charlie shrugs and nods, "If you say so. I think I have to apologize to Antonio." Charlie muses after a moment. "He'll be disappointed I imagine, but that's to be expected."

Santana shifts, "I'll talk to Antonio, I think I need to talk to him about his father anyway," Santana frowns. She knew this day would come, but she had hoped that Antonio would be old enough to understand nuance but she would have to deal with the hand that she was dealt.


	40. Chapter 40

"I'm telling you for the _millionth_ -time Brittany, you can't have hellbeasts on this plane, or _demons_ in your sanctuary. Hellbeasts belong in hell. Can you _imagine_ the carnage let alone the clean up we would be forced to do if one of them escaped? People would find out that we _exist_. Salem witch trials?"

Brittany scoffed, "Please you know that they didn't actually burn any witches. There was a witch hunt, people were scared. 'Powerful men' scared of women. It's rather boring, also what if I get Charlie to _make sure_ that they can't get out? I mean the wards that he has now are probably more than enough to keep people out, and more importantly to keep my little friends inside."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Charlie would probably agree with me that keeping Hellbeasts in your sanctuary is a _disaster_ waiting to happen."

"Please, he'd jump at the chance to create some powerful magic like that. He might agree with you but he'd do it anyway, just to prove that he could. So, we can all pretend that he's the greatest Magician that ever lived."

Quinn snorted, "You're probably right. Speaking of Charlie, have you heard the latest news from mom and dad?"

"That he's in love with Santana?" Brittany grinned. "I _knew it_. I mean it's Charlie so we shouldn't—" Brittany frowned when Quinn's eyes widened and she began to shake her head. "What?"

"Shouldn't what?"

Brittany twists around in her seats and her mouth drops, for years they had been inviting their brother to this little event in _hopes_ that he would want to participate but he never showed up. He didn't even have a good excuse, he just didn't want to go to their weekly lunch. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Charlie grabbed a chair from a nearby table and waved his hand at a waiter, "You invited me," he reminds her as if it were obvious. "I don't understand was I not supposed to come?"

Quinn glanced at Brittany who didn't exactly have a quick retort on her lips and she sighs, "I think what Brittany means is that we've invited you to our weekly get together for nearly seven years now, and this is the first time you've _ever_ showed up to one. I mean it's both a _habit_ and we're terrified of what mom will say if she finds out that we _didn't_ invite you."

Brittany nods, "Plus we _know_ you, the only time you remember that you have siblings is when you need something from us or we come and see you. So, back to my original question; what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be teaching Antonio about the stars or something."

Charlie frowned, and picked at the purple cast for a moment. "I'm not his father."

"Which is for the best, Antonio has a shot of being _normal_ ," Brittany points out flatly before pausing. "You do understand how children are made right?"

"Of course, I do, I've never had sex, so I _know_ that I don't have any children. But Antonio would _like_ for me to be his father, I think. Santana thought it'd be best if I just gave them the morning so she could explain to Antonio who his father was without me being there to _confuse_ him," Charlie explained.

Quinn nodded for a moment, "That makes sense, I mean it does seem rather fast to have this conversation with him. But I'm guessing the date went well?"

"No. There was no date," Charlie shrugs his shoulders and turns his attention to the waitress. "Can I have three of these?"

The waitress's eyes widened slightly studying him, "You want _three_ orders of the fifty-piece chicken wings?"

"Yes, but can you stagger them? I don't like my food getting cold. So, when I finish eating one order or close to you bring out the next batch?" Charlie asked, handing back the menu. "Also, water and you can surprise me with the dip. Thank you."

Quinn sighed and looked at the waitress, who stumbled away. "Charlie, you do realize that _normal_ people don't eat like that."

"Quinn, I'm _hungry_. What do you want me to do? Pretend that we don't need that much food as a trade-off?" Charlie sniffed. "If you _care_ what people think, then I don't understand why we don't just frequent buffets. No one cares then, plus it's _cheaper_."

"You weren't really invited," Brittany reminds him, glancing around. Luckily people didn't seem to be paying him any mind. She flicks her attention back to Charlie for a moment and groans when he looks like he's going to argue with her. "What do you mean there was _no_ date. How do you mess that up? What did you do?"

"I asked her to lunch and held her hand," Charlie replied.

"I don't understand—" Quinn flicked her eyes to Charlie. "You _talked_ to her right?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then I don't get it, for you anyway that sounds like a date."

"I didn't confirm it with her that it was a date, I just asked her to lunch and we _always_ go to lunch. We've also held hands before, so it _wasn't_ a date. I then asked her to date me and Santana said no. It would make things odd if we fought or anything."

Brittany leaned across the table so that she could pat Charlie's good hand gently, "I'm sorry Chuck. It sucks to get rejected. But now that we know that you do have _normal_ feelings like everyone else, we can find you someone else."

Charlie made a face and pulled his hand away from Brittany, "I'm not upset. Santana had valid concerns. I do _pay_ her, and she works for me. It makes sense that she would find dating me to be ill-advised. Besides she said that I could hold her hand and give her hugs any time, plus I don't have to do all that boring stuff like dating. So, I get what I want and I didn't have to get her flowers."

"Wait—" Brittany blinked and turned to Quinn who was in equal shock.

" _What_?" Quinn demanded.

"What part of my explanation didn't you understand? I get to hold her hand and hug her without dating her," Charlie explained. This was why he never showed up, they couldn't even follow a simple train of thought.

"Is that a euphemism?" Brittany asked seriously.

"A euphemism?" Charlie crinkled his nose. "For what?"

"Sex." Quinn stated bluntly. "Is holding hands and hugging Santana a euphemism for sex?"

"No. Why would you think that? I already told Santana that I don't want to have sex with her. I don't want _children_." Charlie shook his head.

Quinn closed her eyes, "Ever—wait you _told_ Santana that you didn't want to have sex with her? Are you blind?"

"I don't want to have children, once I explained that to Santana she understood. Besides she already has a son."

"I—" Quinn began and looked over at to Brittany for help.

"You do know that Mike and I have sex like daily, right?" Brittany informed him bluntly. "I'm not pregnant. Sex is for more than _procreation_. You _do_ understand, that, right?"

"He doesn't," Quinn frowned and looked at her brother who was now busy looking for his food. "Charlie, sex is a wonderful thing. It's something that increases intimacy between partners—oh dear god listen to me."

"You're doing great," Brittany nodded.

"Does it matter? Santana doesn't want to do that with me."

"Yes, but you can do it with other girls without getting them pregnant," Quinn pointed out. "Charlie you're nearly _thirty_."

"Is it our birthday? I didn't get you anything."

"No, our birthday is in February—and you make fun of me for forgetting things."

"There are important things and there are unimportant things. I don't remember the unimportant things." Charlie shook his head as if it were obvious.

Brittany rubbed her temples, Charlie was hopeless. "So, what if Santana wants to hug or hold another person's hand."

"She hugs Antonio. She also holds his hand. I don't see why that should bother me," Charlie replied.

Quinn rested her head on her chin. "Not Antonio. What if someone like Starchild walks into your store and sees Santana and flirts with her and wants to _you know_ hold her hand or _hug_ her. Or what if this Sebastian person—"

"Who is Sebastian?"

"Antonio's father," Brittany supplied.

"Right."

"What if he wants to rekindle things with Santana, you know get back together, have another kid—" Quinn flicked her eyes to the ceiling when the lights flickered. She hadn't even felt a surge of power from Charlie when he generally got annoyed and she hadn't seen a look of anger on his face either. She glances over at Brittany who was staring at him. She wasn't sure if he had done that.

"I thought Starchild was dead."

"The point is Charlie, what if Brittany was single and decided she wanted to you know _date_ —" One of the lightbulbs blew from behind them and Quinn turned to Charlie as the lights began to flicker. " _Charlie_."

"She's _my_ assistant, and if you think that I will let you take her from me—"

"Then do something about it. Santana likes you enough to put up with your weirdness, and you personally purge Sebastian—"

"Seriously who the fuck is this Sebastian guy?"

"Antonio's _father_ ," Quinn groans. "You purge his name for your mind immediately after you hear that. If you were a normal human being you'd understand. You'd be able to put all this together, but since you're incapable of that because you aren't anywhere as _clever_ as you think you are. You like Santana, you want to be a family with her. You like her far better than you like anyone else and if you want to date her then you're going to need to show her that you aren't incapable of _love_."

Charlie stared at Quinn before standing up. "Now I remember why I never come to these things," he muttered. He would go to the diner and eat there. It was better than being insulted by Quinn and Brittany.

~O~

Santana sighed, as she brushed some hair out off Antonio's face. The moment that she had a minute she was taking him to a barber to get his hair done, and if that meant dragging Charlie along with her then so be it. "Antonio, _mijo_ , I know that you love Charlie and he's a fun friend to have, but he isn't your father."

Antonio scowled, at this, his mom was being weird and he wasn't quite sure why. He _knew_ that Mr. Charlie wasn't his dad, even though he knew he'd be the _coolest_ dad ever. "Why not? You _like_ him, and I like him and he's here! Plus, you don't talk about my dad!"

Santana bit her lip, she had just never known how to broach the topic with him. How could she inform Antonio that Sebastian had _wanted_ her to get rid of him? "No, I haven't. I was hoping and praying that this conversation would come later, when you were older so you could understand. But here we are, I know I've been super busy lately and you've been spending quite a bit of time with Charlie, which may have confused you but I was trying—" Santana sighs. "My parents, my _family_ cares very much about appearances Antonio. They don't _love me_ , not unconditionally like a parent is supposed to. I know you don't understand what that means, but you know that there isn't _anything_ you could do that would make me think any less of you Antonio. I will never kick you out of my house, at least because you did something wrong. My parents weren't like that. It was all about what _other_ people thought. I just didn't notice it back then. So, when I got pregnant with you—" Santana hesitates for a moment before swallowing and deciding to continue. "They thought it was a mistake—that you were a mistake. But you Antonio have been my _everything_. I would never give you up for anything."

Antonio crinkled his nose, "A mistake?"

"I was young. Your father and I—we were young and we thought we knew everything. Your father—at the time I thought he cared about me, we had been friends for years. He knew me better than anyone else, and I loved him at the time. My parents thought that keeping you, instead of giving you up for adoption was a mistake. That you would ruin my life, but they were wrong. Look at us! Look at where we are. I don't think any of this was a mistake." Santana gestured to their apartment and looks at Antonio. "Your father— _agreed_ with them. So, I left, with you in my belly, and well you know the rest."

Antonio frowned, "So my dad doesn't like me?"

"Sebastian isn't your dad Antonio, I know you may want to meet him but he never changed your diapers, he never went to your parent teacher meetings he didn't do _anything_ of the sort. I mean the only good thing that he did was he gave me you," Santana explains, wincing. She never would have been this blunt, she had always hoped that Sebastian would simply grow out of it and want to have something to do with Antonio's life, but that clearly wasn't the case. Now he was trying to steal her son away from her.

"But—" Antonio rubs his head, his head hurt and so did his stomach.

Santana immediately pulled him up into a hug, "I love you. I _chose_ to have you, and to keep you and I will never ever regret that decision. You need to understand that above all else, that you are loved mijo, and everything else doesn't matter."

Antonio swallowed, he didn't _feel loved_ right now. Maybe he should never have asked about his dad. He wasn't sure he liked the answer. "Why have you been so busy?" He asks after a moment.

"My parents want to force me back home, so they're trying to take you away from me. They're using Sebastian to take you away from me. He's the _only_ person who really has a claim on you, but I'm not going to let them take you. I _promise_."

Antonio nods, "I like Mr. Charlie," he says after a moment. "He _really_ likes you too."

"I know, but we're not going to date. He's my _boss_ , and I want to continue working with him without all the drama that dating causes. I mean I know he's not that petty, but a relationship would complicate things. I want him to remain in your life for as long as you want him too."

Antonio sighs, and shifts again pulling out of his mother's grasp. He narrows his eyes at her, "You like him too."

Santana rolled her eyes, she wasn't sure how she felt about her son trying to get her to date. "Antonio, I'm not going to _date him_. I also don't _like him_ like that, he's my _boss_ and he's weird." Santana shakes her head, she didn't have time to deal with Charlie's oddness. "I don't mind you being close to him—so long as you don't convince him to start changing shape for you."

Antonio scowled, "But he _promised_ , when his hand was better he would!"

Santana rolled her eyes, "You do realize that he's _terrible_ at shape-shifting, right? He's going to get stuck." Antonio grinned at her and Santana groans. "I'm not here to clean up after you two. I'm also not taking care of him if he becomes a dog, or whatever you two have planned." She was going to have to get Russell on the phone if Charlie managed to get stuck in another body again, just to impress Antonio. He didn't need to do that anymore.


	41. Chapter 41

"He's on the roof."

Santana glanced up from where she was taking inventory. "On the roof," she repeats slowly, confusion on her face.

"Yes, just keep heading up the stairs till you get to the end. His cast is off, which means that he's able to practice magic again. I imagine he simply wanted the space and the quiet to practice. Do make sure he doesn't _push_ himself." Judy offers.

"I'll do my best, but you know how he is." Santana sighs. "If he manages to get stuck in another body—Antonio mentioned that he was going to start transforming again, should I just call you?"

Judy rolled her eyes, "No, call his father. My job is keep him healthy, Russell has to deal with everything else."

"Thought as much, I'll remind them both that it's a terrible idea, but I should probably check to make sure that he hasn't started practicing," Santana groaned. It was just what she needed another child to look after. Well at least now she could take a look at the other apartment, she had never been upstairs, let alone the roof. It seemed like a terrible idea given all of Charlie's creatures that she was sure he was hiding somewhere in the building.

Judy nods and was about to leave, before stopping and looking at Santana carefully. She had _hoped_ that her son could make something happen, but clearly that wasn't happening. "Please do take care of him, even though he looks like he does, he's still my only son, and my youngest child. I know how difficult he can be, but just give him a chance. He's _better_ when he's around you."

Santana shifts uncomfortably for a moment, "I know that, but he's still my boss and I think I'd like to keep the two separate as much as I possibly can. I do plan on taking care of him though because I don't think there are many people who are willing."

"I guess that's all I can ask for." Judy smiles.

Santana nods and waits for Judy to leave before heading to the store door and flipping the sign to closed, and locking the front door. Inventory could wait, the last thing she wanted or _needed_ was for Charlie to start a fire on the roof. She sighs as she leaves the store and heads up the stairs passing her floor as she heads to the roof. She doesn't bother to stop and explore the other floors, they were dark and even though she didn't know _everything_ she knew enough about the creatures that went bump in the night to keep on walking, pushing open the door to the roof.

She pauses when she spots Charlie shirtless standing on the middle of the roof, doing what she can only imagine is an elaborate spell, from the way he was moving his arms and hands. She couldn't _see_ anything but she could feel the power in the air. It was thick with it. If she interrupted him now, she would probably be responsible for Charlie putting a hole in the roof.

Charlie twists his hand, gritting his teeth silently as he feels a twinge of pain and some resistance in his wrist as he works with the forces of nature. It had been far too long, since he had done this. Years, since he had simply worked with magic like this. Creating something out of magic usually wiped him out completely but he _knew_ he could do it. He just needed to focus past the pain, past the stiffness in his arm and wrist and just focus on the creation itself.

Santana turns around and watches in amazement as the flowers slowly start growing from the flowerpots, that look as if there hadn't been life in them for _years_. She jumps back when one of the brown ceramic pots cracks and a tree begins to grow shooting up quickly. Charlie seems to turn towards it, and if he notices her he doesn't say anything as he twists his hands and focuses on the tree, approaching it slowly. Finally, he stops in front of it and extends his palm as the tree bursts into a full bloom and the flowers quickly disappear as a fruit appears and drops into his extended hand.

Charlie takes a bite of the apple and immediately spits it out and coughs, "What the hell is this?" He grunts spitting onto the grass that was now on the roof.

Santana blinks and plucks an apple from the tree and looks at Charlie before sniffing it, and taking a small bite. She could taste the juice immediately, the acidity and the slight bitterness. "Pineapple." She informs him wincing and looking at him. "I mean it does have _apple_ in its name, right? So at least you're halfway there. Also, was it _necessary_ for you to be shirtless?"

Charlie tossed the tainted fruit over his shoulder and immediately went to go pick up his shirt, "No. I just got used to doing it like this, feeling the magic, being able to twist it on command. That was _not_ supposed to happen Santana, now I have to figure out if it this is a result of my injury and my focus shifting slightly due to pain or if this is my new normal." He takes a step forward and stumbles as his head swims.

"Or, and this is just a suggestion Charlie, you can start small and work your way up to bending the laws of magic. I mean you just spent the past few weeks doing the bare minimum, it's no wonder you might be a bit rusty. So, work your way up slowly. Try something small, and work your way up to something bigger." Santana says, as she grabs him letting him lean on her.

"Perhaps," Charlie muttered. "It's been years since I've _needed_ to practice," he puffs out his cheeks and glances down at Santana for a moment, before pulling away from her and sitting down on a bench near the doorway. "I thought that I could tidy this place up for you, it'll be a nice place for you to sit and have some time with Antonio without having to take him to the park."

"You didn't _have_ to do that Charlie, you don't have to continue to spoil me and Antonio."

"I do, I want you to stay with me and I realize now that maybe if I had done the same for Mike and Rachel they might still be working for me. I'm glad that they aren't, otherwise I would never have met you." Charlie reaches down and picks up a few pebbles on the ground and holds them with his good hand.

Santana watches as one of his fingers spark up, and a small arc of lightning appears carving a small design into the bigger pebble. She's about to ask him what he plans to do next, but she knew better. He needed silence to work and she was sitting beside him, she didn't want to be caught in an explosion. It takes him only a few moments before he stops and arranges the pebbles in his hand. "What are you doing?" She asks.

"Making a golem."

"Did you miss what I just said?"

"I'm making a small golem, I'm doing _exactly_ what you just said."

"I meant do _easy_ magic, not something complicated."

"It's not going to be a complex golem, it's just going to walk around and trip over stuff. I figured Spot could use something to bat around," Charlie responds. Holding his good hand up and making a gesture over it, mumbling the words to the spell under his breath. It takes a moment but the mark on the pebble glows and the golem sits up. Each pebble appeared to be floating in the air. "See? Easy." Charlie said placing the golem on the ground.

Santana watched as the Golem took a shaky step before falling flat on its face. "Sure, I can _totally_ see how easy it was."

"It's supposed to do that, it's not like I used the best material for him," Charlie responded defensively, when Santana chuckles at his expense. "How are things going with your parents."

Santana grunted at this, and bends down to scoop up the golem. "I don't know. I mean according to my lawyer, they don't really _have_ a case. But that doesn't mean that I don't feel like something bad is going to happen—do you ever just feel like something is coming and there is very little you can do to stop it?"

"No. But I have zero psychic ability. I can't even read tea-leaves," Charlie shrugs.

Santana can't help but snort, "That's a thing?"

"I don't think so but Brittany swears by it, she doesn't even _like_ tea. Also, I find peering into the future to be a waste of time, meddling in the present generally leads to the exact future you want to avoid. But I do know that you won't have to go through it alone," Charlie adds after a moment and reaches for Santana's hand.

Santana flicks her eyes towards Charlie's hand for a moment before deciding to rest her head on his shoulder. "You do realize that you have around seventy orders that you _need_ to get to, and we need to do inventory, right?"

Charlie puffs out his cheeks, and watches as his golem crawls over Santana's arm, "I was hoping you would forget."

"You pay me not to," Santana reminds him standing up and pulling him up with her. "Come on, we have to pick up Antonio soon, and you're going to tell him that you aren't going to start transforming into creatures for his amusement. You'll get stuck and then where will we be?"

"I'm not _that_ bad at it."

"Uhuh," Santana laughs.


	42. Chapter 42

The sound of Charlie's curtains being pulled back in such a frantic fashion was enough for Santana to jump up and immediately reach for the magical fire extinguisher that she kept under the counter. "Not again Charlie—"

"I'm not here. You haven't seen me in days! Months," Charlie whispers to Santana frantically before closing the curtain.

Santana stares at where Charlie's head had just been before blinking twice when she hears a door slam shut from inside Charlie's little work area. Had there always been a door in there? She shakes her head, deciding to chalk it up to Charlie being weird, _again_. She puts the fire extinguisher down and goes back to the pamphlet that Russell had sent her. She had no idea there were so many different magical schools, which probably meant that there were more magicians than she knew about. It was a scary thing and something she would need to press Charlie on. "When he stops being weird," she mumbled mostly to herself. She's about to flip the page when suddenly the door slams open with enough force to cause a few of the items on the shelf to rattle.

"It's dusty as hell in here."

Santana blinked as a black woman with blonde hair strolled into Charlie's shop running her fingers along the shelves. "Uh—"

"You must be his new assistant, make a note your new name is Salsa Caliente. You've been doing a _terrible_ job. It's a good thing you're pretty otherwise I'm sure he would have fired you by now. Now, where is he? I know he's here."

"Salsa—" Santana inhaled sharply and narrowed her eyes at this woman. Charlie had looked absolutely _terrified_ during their odd little interaction, but she wasn't quite sure why. This woman just seemed to be a blowhard. "He's not. I haven't seen him all day. Now if you'll please leave—"

"Please, you're going to have try harder than that Salsa Caliente."

"My name is _Santana_ , and Charlie's not on the premises. So, I'm asking you to _leave_ the premises."

The woman frowns slightly at her, "I'm surprised you're very _open_ in giving your name to _strangers_. There's power in a name. Isn't that the first thing they teach you in your poor man's magician's college?"

Santana hesitated, Charlie had _never_ mentioned it but neither had Terry or anyone else who had helped her. "I don't know who you are and I don't care, if you don't leave. I'll be forced to _make_ you leave." Activating the store's defenses was something that Charlie had informed her to only do when she felt she was in danger, but if this woman scared Charlie then she was already in danger.

"Go ahead, I would like to see how my apprentice has improved."

Santana froze for a moment, Charlie had vaguely mentioned being an apprentice. But the look the woman was giving her was _smug_ , and she wasn't sure if she liked it. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? You know what feel free to wait for him, I'm going back to reading my magazine." She smirks when the woman scowls at her, she _hadn't_ been expecting that. But she had a son and she knew how to handle him when he was getting too big for his britches. Even if she was curious about who this woman was, and why Charlie was petrified of her—the silent treatment was the best option.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you Selena?"

"Santana."

"I know this week's issue of _Seventeen_ must be riveting, but—"

Whatever this woman's insult was about to be, she didn't get to finish it as Russell burst through the door with an air of authority that she had never seen from him before. "Roz. I just got word you were here."

"Russell, I see your information network is as slow as ever."

Russell narrowed his eyes, "I was sure that I was clear that I would discuss the situation with him, and make him see reason. The only thing that you are capable of is bullying my son into submission. Now if you'll _excuse_ me," Russell turns to Santana. "Where is he?"

Santana raised a brow, she was Charlie's assistant, but she _liked_ Russell. He had been more than helpful. "I don't know, he bolted before she came inside. I don't think he's coming back, until she's gone."

Russell rolled his eyes and turned to Roz for a moment, "This wouldn't be the case if you hadn't spent his entire apprenticeship trying to kill him."

"If I had to overcome adversity to master my abilities, then he was going to overcome his fear of water."

"He uses _lightning_ , of course he doesn't like water."

Santana flicked her eyes between Russell and Roz, and groaned she wasn't paid enough to deal with this. "Russell how about I put you down for a meeting tomorrow morning with him. It can wait till tomorrow, right?"

Roz and Russell stare each other down before she finally turns away first with a roll of her eyes. "Yes. It can wait a night, but make sure he knows he won't like it if we have to come looking for him." With that Roz turns around and storms out causing the shelves to rattle as she slams the door shut.

Santana glances at Russell, "Can I ask what this is about? To mentally prep him. You know how he can get."

Russell shrugged it off, "I do, but unfortunately I can't tell you Santana. You can blame Charlie on that, there is paperwork that he needs to fill to register you as his assistant with the Council. He hasn't done it, perhaps he thinks it's best, but more than likely he's _lazy_."

"That sounds about right," Santana shakes her head. "I do have a bottle of dwarven spirits for you, it's in the back. Don't tell your wife."

Russell laughs heartily, "I won't, don't worry."

"Good. I'm not scared of many things, but your wife is someone that I'm pretty sure could kill me and no one would ever find the body."

"That's probably true." Russell agrees. "But you had better be clear with your intentions with our son, because there is no one Judy is more protective of than Charlie."

"My intentions?" Santana sputters.

"Yes, I did mention she spoiled the boy. Charles was a _fine_ name, but she called him Charlie and he was her little boy. Like I mentioned before fat baby, I should have some pictures somewhere. Judy was overprotective of him, honestly, we thought he was a bit slow until we realized it was the opposite and our son was just _odd_. Either way, I need to know your intentions with my son."

"We're friends," Santana responds easily and assuredly. "We talked about it, I was honest with him that I just didn't feel comfortable dating my boss. I like working for him and with Antonio in the picture it's a bit more complicated than I would like it to be."

Russell studies her for a moment, and sighs. "Fine then. He does need friends like you and while I'm disappointed, I understand." He shrugs slightly. "Well now that I understand that he _does_ indeed want to find a partner, I know a few women who could in theory put up with him. You know in the olden days, he'd have hundreds of suitors who wanted to be a part of our line. Some people _still_ think like that."

"You do know he doesn't want to actually have children of his own, right?" Santana prompts. She had no idea why she was bothering, it was between Charlie and his father.

"You think I wanted to have children? No. I didn't. I found the right woman, settled down and had three _hellions_. I'm just hoping for an accident at this point. Someone needs to give me grandchildren and Quinn's out of the picture. Brittany—well we started her on birth control the moment she entered puberty."

"Charlie also doesn't _want_ to have sex," Santana points out throwing him under the bus. "Something about that's how babies are made. You probably need to give him the talk before he turns thirty. Or at least _a_ talk."

Russell blinked slowly and opened his mouth but he couldn't find the words. He had always wondered about his son, now he knew that his son was just _weird_. "A talk indeed, tell him I stopped by."

"Right," Santana says waving him off. Charlie probably hadn't left the premises all she needed to do was go find him. She waits until he leaves before closing up the store and heading up stairs. She doesn't really need to search for him because he's already heading down the stairs. "You owe me a raise, and explanation."

"Roz is my former—teacher— _master_ really. As I'm sure you learned those that want to further their studies in magic, well we compete for apprenticeship positions. Most of it is based on test scores, and there is a compatibility portion that didn't work out well for me."

"Go on," Santana prompts. "Your father mentioned she tried to kill you."

"Several times. She's a water elemental, there are very few lightning elementals, I think there are three in the world that we know of. I'm one of them. Really Quinn was better suited to being her apprentice but I drew the short straw. Quinn will bitch at me and tell me she didn't have it easy either but—"

Santana sighs and gently prods him in his stomach. "To the point."

"She spent the three years that I studied under her trying to _murder_ me. I couldn't swim so she nearly drowned me. When I first went to undertown I was nearly buried alive. According to her I relied on my lightning. I disagreed, which generally led to harsh and brutal punishments. Graduating was the happiest day of my short life and since then," Charlie waved his hands. "This is what I choose to do with my life. She was not _impressed_."

Santana blinked, watching as he shivered, he almost looked _normal_. "Well, I don't think you can avoid her forever. She said it was urgent."

"Yes, well she can _piss_ off." Charlie sniffed. He wasn't working under her again.

"Your fathers involved."

"Well, we'll withhold his dwarven ale until he leaves me alone as well," Charlie grumbled. When those two plotted something it _never_ went well for him. Besides his magic was still on the fritz and he had no idea how to fix it.

Santana winced, "He's meeting you tomorrow in the morning so—" Charlie frowned and she patted his arm. She wouldn't overwhelm him with bad news. "They couldn't tell me apparently, there's paperwork that you need to fill. So, I would—"

"No. I'll handle it," Charlie interrupted curtly, a frown on his face. It was one of _those_ missions. The things he did to be labelled a _master_.

Santana watched as he tried to shuffle away, he was hiding something but if he wasn't going to tell her then so be it. She had ways of making him talk. She'd pick up some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and tempt him that way.


	43. Chapter 43

"Charlie, I promised your father that you'd attend this meeting. I mean it doesn't sound pleasant, I think he wants to get you to date other women, or something." Santana explained to Charlie as she tugged on his arm trying to get him downstairs.

Charlie didn't have to resist Santana's attempts, she wasn't trying all that hard to get him moving. Instead he narrows his eyes at Santana and frowns, "Why? My father gave that up years ago, I don't understand why he'd choose to reopen that _now_. What exactly did you say to him yesterday?"

Santana hesitated, "Your father just asked me what my intentions were with you and I answered truthfully that we're just friends. That you're still my boss," Santana explains simply, she hadn't done anything wrong. She shrugs it off immediately. "I mean I know it makes you uncomfortable but, the sooner that you get it over with you can have fun with Antonio."

"You just want me to babysit him again so you can run to the store," Charlie shot back in an accusatory tone, he was rewarded with a smile from Santana and the discomfort in his stomach was back, causing him to sigh. "Santana, I don't think my father is there to try and use me as some stud to mate with a woman so I can give him grandchildren. I've already made my feelings on the matter very clear. He wouldn't even bother showing up, he'd just send the woman in question to me and expect me to do something about it. It's what he did before, so it's probably something else. Roz wouldn't be around if that was the case."

Santana studied him, Charlie didn't generally like talking to customers to begin with, but this was something different. "Well, you're no longer her apprentice, are you? So, you can tell her to piss off."

"Sure, I can if I want her to try and murder me again. She has this trick where she traps your head in this bubble that's filled with water." Charlie shuddered. "It was meant to get me to obey, I didn't. It happened a lot. It's a terrible and needlessly cruel punishment, but for someone like me it was the worst thing that she could do. My innate abilities are useless and in those situations when you're panicking doing magic while you can't function like that? It's dangerous. Nearly got myself killed a few times."

Santana blinked, that sounded horrifying. Antonio wanted to be a _magician_ , and if this was what he had to look forward too, then she would need to get Charlie's help to steer him in another direction. "Is that _normal_? You know trying to kill your apprentice?"

"I don't know, I only had the one master. Everyone is different, Brittany apparently got off easy. Quinn said she had a horrid experience. I was nearly killed a few times a day. The only positive that came out of my apprenticeship is the fact that I started coming up with my own magic to combat Roz's insanity. Which puts me on the master path myself," Charlie waved his hands dismissively.

Santana frowned, "Would you be able to take Antonio on as your apprentice?"

"Well, it _depends_. Can I take Antonio as my apprentice? Yes, so long as his discipline is in an area I am more than adequate in. Roz can only take other elementals, she has no talent for other magic. My mother if she wanted too, she doesn't like taking on apprentices, can only take people who match her discipline, she is exceptionally picky. Apparently one of her apprentices started taking what my mother taught him and started practice necromancy, another one tried to cure cancer and ended up killing quite a few people. There are things that magic simply can't do. My mother lost the taste for teaching. I have no talent for healing magic, or transformation magic or simply psychic magic. He'd need to find a master of those to teach if he wants any recognition. It's also far too early to be thinking about this. He's seven, he can't even draw a perfect circle."

"He practices daily," Santana retorts, Charlie hadn't seen the pages upon pages of attempts that he did.

"I know, he shows me every day. I'm saying that at this point in time he can't draw a perfect circle. Most magicians can't draw a perfect circle. I want him to be the best magician he can possibly be. Isn't that what you want for him as well? To be the best person he can be? Whether he chooses to stay as a magician or chooses to do something else entirely it's completely up to him. But doing magic as you know isn't easy, you worked hard at learning everything you know now, and Antonio will have to work just as hard, if not harder if he wants to become the best magician he can be."

Santana paused, and sighed. 'He's working as hard as he can—"

"And because of that his circles have markedly improved, he needs a steady hand even if he never gets to draw a perfect circle and all this practice steadies his hands."

Santana flushed, suddenly realizing she was being defensive of her son when Charlie was only trying his best to help him. It was obvious that he had a soft spot for her son, "I'm sorry, just with everything that's going on—" she lets out lamely.

"I understand."

"Do you?" Santana questions.

"No. I don't, but you're supposed to say stuff like that, aren't you?"

"Did you memorize those cue cards?"

"Yes."

"Charlie," Santana groans a small smile playing on her lips. She sighed, it would be best to just explain it to him. "I'm a single mom, and with everything that's going on with my parents trying to take him from me, it feels like everyone is questioning my parenting. I'm doing the best that I can. I mean I love him deeply, and yeah maybe I've been spoiling him a little since we moved in here but, he's my son and we didn't have it easy. Do you have any idea how hard it is for a sixteen-year-old to get a job and start raising a child by herself? How many places wouldn't rent to me? Of course, you don't but it was difficult, but I did it. And Antonio's well adjusted and he's happy and I tell him I love him everyday—he's been eating far better than he did. I can afford to buy him school supplies now and new clothes."

"My parents dumped me in a boarding school the moment they could. Of course we were a danger to people around us so it made sense at the time, but they didn't read us stories. You're a good mother, I think. At least you don't threaten to change Antonio into a slug if he doesn't behave."

Santana laughed, "I think you're exaggerating. Your mother loves you."

"I imagine she does, but if there was a contest I think you'd win," Charlie says patting Santana on the shoulder. He looks away after a moment and pulls out the coin in his pocket and sighs. "I suppose I _have_ to see what they want don't I?"

"They'll find you if you keep running away, best to face them on your own terms," Santana points out. He _really_ wasn't happy about this whole thing. Hopefully it wouldn't be anything too serious.

~O~

Antonio puffed out his cheeks as he sat in the stool practicing his circles, he had already finished all his other homework and his mom and had begun to do his next activity. "You said he's been in there all day! When his meeting done? He said I could help him make a proper golem after Spot ate the last one."

Santana glanced over at Charlie's apartment and sighed, he had been in there for hours and for a moment she was sure that she had heard shouting before it had gotten extremely quiet. Probably some silencing spell so no one could hear what was being discussed. Maybe she shouldn't have booked the appointment. "Well, nothing too complicated this time, alright? Charlie's magic has been a bit inconsistent as of late. I don't want you caught up in a magical explosion or anything of the sort."

" _Fine_." Antonio pouted for a moment. "Mr. Charlie said that most golems are made from clay, or stone. But you can make any type of golem if you really want to. He says he has golem clay somewhere in the shop, can we use that?"

Santana winced, she knew Charlie wouldn't care and he probably wouldn't dock her pay but she was aware of how much it cost, and how rare it was. "Maybe use something else. Something that Spot can't tear apart with her claws."

Antonio nodded, that seemed pretty smart. "Yeah, maybe we can get some bigger rocks, so it's not bite-sized—"

"Charlie if there was anyone else that could do this job, I would have put their name forward before yours. This is _important_."

Santana glanced across the hall to see Charlie holding the door open for his father, they had been in there for _hours_ and neither Fabray looked pleased with the meeting that they had been in.

"I said that I'll think about it," Charlie retorts running a hand through his hair. His eyes flick across the hall toward Santana for a moment and turns to look at his dad.

"You don't have time," Russell reminds him. "This isn't some _joke_ Charles."

"I'm well aware, but I have responsibilities, I can't just drop everything and go on a suicide mission, just because you say it's important. Mom will be the first one to tell you that I don't have full use of my hands—"

"She said you were at eighty-percent, and if you're doing the exercises that she gave you, chances are you should be closer to ninety by now." Russell follows Charlie's gaze and stops for a moment before sighing. "Get your affairs in order, Quinn will be here later tonight."

"I never agreed to this," Charlie calls after his father who had already begun to walk away. He sighs and makes his way across the hall.

Santana glances at him before pushing a box of cookies towards him. "Everything okay?"

"No. It seems that someone has done something _incredibly_ stupid and I've been called in with some others to take care of it," Charlie crossed his arms across his chest. Flicking his eyes to Antonio. "Shall we make the golem before I have to leave?"

Antonio looked up, "Are you going to fight another Mongolian Death Worm?"

"No," Charlie responds briskly.

"A dragon?" Antonio grinned when Spot looked up at him and blew a puff of smoke into his face.

"No," Charlie responded.

"Oh, well then what are you going to fight?"

Charlie made a face, and opened his mouth to respond only to hesitate for a moment, "It's classified," he says finally and shrugs when Antonio scowls at him. "Take it up with my father, perhaps when I get back I'll tell you how it went."

"How long will you be gone?" Santana presses, he wasn't given much details and sure he had disappeared for a few days. He had mentioned a suicide mission but—she was sure that he was just being hyperbolic.

"Six months to a year," Charlie responds.

Santana nearly dropped what she was working and looked at Charlie. "What?"

"Six months?" Antonio echoes slowly and frowns. "What do you mean gone?"

Charlie sighs rubbing his neck again and trying to ignore the pain in his stomach. "I'm not going to be in the country, I'm not even sure I'll be in this realm for some of it. The scope is—" Charlie pauses and turns to look at Antonio who looked absolutely devastated.

"Do you _have_ to go? You didn't say yes!" Antonio insists.

Charlie hesitates for a moment and looks at Santana for a moment but she seems to be just as lost as he felt. Normally he wouldn't care, he'd just go but the thought of leaving Santana and Antonio bothered him. "I _do_. I can't leave Quinn alone. They need our raw firepower. It's why I don't have a choice in the matter. If I don't go willingly—well Roz will hunt me down and drag me along anyway."

"But we were supposed to work on your transformation magic and build a golem and you were going to show me a _gargoyle_ ," Antonio protests immediately. "You _promised_."

"I know but—"

"You _promised_ ," Antonio repeats again. "Mom says you have to keep your promises! Right?" Antonio looks at his mother expecting her to agree with him.

"I did say that," Santana agrees. The last thing she needed was a man, or anyone flaking on Antonio, but that wasn't Charlie. He didn't even seem that he wanted to go, he wasn't excited by any stretch of the imagination. She had seen the worry on Russell's face, the worry on his face. This was something big. "But, he needs to go save the world Antonio. We can't be selfish."

Antonio blinked back the tears and looked at Mr. Charlie in awe. "You're going to save the world?"

Charlie winced, Santana had no idea how close to the truth she was. "Something like that," he says after a moment. "I wouldn't leave if it wasn't important, certainly not for this long. You'll have to be in charge of the store while I'm away—you'll still get paid regularly."

"Of course, feed the brownies, all the wards are in place?"

"Right, Brittany will be stopping by to check on the place regularly, so you don't have to worry about anything. You'll be safe here, if you need anything call my father. He'll make sure you have anything and everything you need."

"Will you write?" Antonio interrupts. "How will we know you're okay?"

Charlie tilted his head, that was a very good question on Antonio's part. He immediately put his hands in his pocket and pulled out a golden coin, he wasn't personally fond of using the material but it would have to do right now. His fingers itch as he begins to move them casting the spell and blowing on it. It begins to shine brightly and he immediately jerks his hand upward to avoid Spot lunging for the gold. "This is how. When I'm nearby it'll glow brightly, if something happens to me—" Charlie flicks his eyes to Santana. "It's tied to my magic. I think your mom should hold onto it."

Santana nods and takes the coin from him, she can feel it's warmth and it hums in her hand. It felt like him, she couldn't explain it but it did. "I'll go get the clay," Santana says after a moment. "We'll make the golem together."

Charlie flashes her a smile and nods, "I think I'd like that."


	44. Chapter 44

' _Odd weather patterns continue to ravage the western seaboard. It has been the oddest week in weather history and meteorologists are still scratching their heads. Rare thunder snow, has buried half of San Diego in snow. Massive flooding has been reported in various regions, and minor earthquakes has rocked California for the past two weeks. But it's not just the West coast that's been having bizarre weather patterns—'_

Antonio watched as his mother turned off the television and puffed out his cheeks. "Is it still glowing?" He grumbled as his mother began to fuss over him, he _hated_ the dark suit that he was currently being forced to wear and the tie looked _silly_ , plus, it was far too tight.

Santana sighed and shook her head, before fishing the coin out of her purse to show her son that it was indeed still glowing. For the past two months, Antonio had asked every single day. She would put it out for him to watch but the coin attracted Spot like a moth to a flame. There had been a few days where the light had dimmed considerably and the warmth that radiated from the coin had gone cold, but before she could worry about it, before she could panic the light would return. "It is," Santana replies holding it up for Antonio to see. She immediately turns and narrows her eyes at Spot who was staring at the coin and getting ready to pounce. "Do _not_." Spot turned to her and blew out a puff out smoke at her before turning around and heading back to her rock.

Antonio held out his hands, "Can I hold it? Please? I promise not to drop it."

"I'm not worried about you dropping it, I'm worried about Spot trying to eat it," Santana pointed out, before handing him the coin. Antonio might like his pet just fine, but she wasn't a fan of the dragon. The only people who seemed to be able to reign her in were Charlie and Brittany. "How about you keep it for the entire day?" Santana offers as she adjusts her son's tie once more causing him to make a face.

"Really?" Antonio grinned at his mom and held onto the coin tightly. It tingled in his hands. "Where do you think, he is?"

Santana shrugged, she personally had no clue. She hadn't heard anything from Brittany or Russell about Charlie. "You can ask his father when we see him today alright?"

"Are we going somewhere fancy?" Antonio asks as he attempts to pull on his tie, only to have his mother smack his hand gently.

Santana rolled her eyes, "I know you adore Charlie, but try not to pick up his bad habits, we've talked about how important today is Antonio."

"I _know_." Antonio sighs impatiently. "You've told me like a million times."

Santana chews the inside of her cheek, fighting the urge to snap at her son. She just can't lose today. Today is the day they are going to finalize her custody arrangement and parenting plan. This is the day that matters more than any other, even if she isn't supposed to explain to Antonio exactly the reason why.

She _knew_ her parents were somehow behind Sebastian's new vested interest in Antonio, and her parents weren't used to losing. She was sure that if they got their way it would only be a matter of time before Sebastian lost interest in the idea of having a son and she would just be under her parents thumb again. Antonio's well-being was far too important to just lay back and let them get their way. "I just want you to be honest Antonio, about what you want. I'm not going to get upset with you."

He looks at her for a minute and then shrugs. "Okay."

Santana sighed, she had done all she could do to get him ready about what was probably going to be a key point in his life. Short of telling him what to say, there was nothing more that she could do. She only hoped that Sebastian and her parents messed things up on their very own.

~O~

Antonio winced when his mother pinched him in the side and looked at the brown football in his hands, "Thank you?" He offers after a moment, as he remembers his manners. He didn't know why this man had handed him a football. He didn't even _like_ football.

"Maybe we could throw the old Pigskin around sometime," Sebastian offers.

"Since when do you play football? You always thought it was for poor people who wanted to destroy their bodies and their minds for not even _good_ money." Santana snaps at her ex, he still looked like a douchebag, and she couldn't believe that she had fallen for it.

"It's something that father's do with their sons," Sebastian responds placing a hand on Antonio's shoulder. "We've got a lot of catching up to do and I know you haven't had the proper father figure in your life. I'm going to change that."

Antonio peered up at Sebastian, he was slightly shorter than Mr. Charlie but he shakes his head. "I don't like football," he says after a moment. "I like magic. Can you do magic?"

Sebastian blinked and turned to look at Santana before looking at his parents and the Lopez's no one had said that he needed to perform for the kid. "Yeah, I mean—I'll show you the trick my uncle taught me." Reaching for Antonio who stared at him blankly, he holds his hands up to show that he has nothing in his hands, before reaching for Antonio's ear and pulling out a coin. "Ta-da."

Antonio blinked and eyed the coin for a moment and then looked at Sebastian, before looking around. Half expecting something else to happen. "Where's the magic?"

Santana bit her lip to stop from smiling when Sebastian looked shocked, "He lives on top of a magic shop, you're going to have to try harder than that," She says briskly, she glances over at her Abuela who inhales sharply and makes a face. She wasn't going to deal with that whole kettle of fish. Her eyes flick over to the door and she relaxes when she sees Russell and Judy Fabray arrive. She hadn't expected them but it was nice to have someone in her corner. She waves them over, "Mr. and Mrs. Fabray!"

"Well you see, the magic trick was that I didn't have a coin in my hand and I pulled it from your ear," Sebastian explained before whipping around to spot his boss strolling in with his wife.

"That's not magic that's just a _trick_. Mr. Charlie tossed a deck of cards into the air and they turned into them into flowers, and he made them float. You just hid the coin with your fingers and moved it around a bit," Antonio frowned.

"What did Charlie do?" Judy pressed immediately her eyes widening. Antonio couldn't talk about magic like it was a real thing. Charlie should have had this conversation with him.

"He performed a magic trick in front of my class. Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Fabray."

"Did he now?" Russell shook his head, it was something to lecture his son about later. "Hey there Antonio, I was pretty sure you're not supposed to tell anyone how a Magician does their tricks."

Antonio's eyes widen, "Right! Mr. Charlie said it was top secret."

"Mr. Fabray sir—" Sebastian's eyes widened as he stood up and looked at his son, raising a brow.

"Dean," Russell said coolly.

"Sebastian sir," Sebastian corrected.

"Whatever," Russell said dismissively before turning his attention to Antonio. "How about I show you a trick later?"

"Really?" Antonio grinned widely. "That would be _cool_."

"A disaster more like it," Judy muttered under her breath. Her husband didn't _practice_ anymore, and sure magic was like riding a bicycle, unfortunately she was certain that her husband would attempt something advanced just to prove that he was better than his son. She had listened to him moan about the good old days since the twins had left.

Santana winced and ran a hand through Antonio's hair, she would have to make sure that she got the fire extinguisher and insisted that Judy put them behind some sort of shield. She didn't want to insult Russell but she had seen his son do magic and even Judy didn't look thrilled. "Well, we should go in, shouldn't we? I just want the day over."

"Uh, Mr. Fabray you know my son?" Sebastian said trying to get close to his boss.

Russell frowned at the question, he knew exactly what type of game that Sebastian was trying to pull. "Santana has made a remarkable assistant to my son, and I'm glad he has her in his life." He wasn't going to give Sebastian a chance to use Antonio in a vain attempt to get to him. "Now come along Antonio, how about I tell you a story about when Charles was a toddler, boy shorted out the entire eastern seaboard."

"You mean the neighborhood," Judy corrected, glancing over at the mundanes. Her eyes linger on Alma Lopez for a moment before glancing at Santana. _Interesting_ , she'd definitely be looking into that.

"I can see that happening," Santana shook her head, whatever it was it sounded like something Charlie would do, and then try and blame it on someone else. She glances over at her parents for a moment, watching as Sebastian talks with them openly. They had made their choice and now it was time for her to put this entire mess behind them.

~O~

"You shouldn't worry Santana, Antonio has a good head on his shoulders," Russell mused. He personally didn't even know why she was worried, surely, she didn't think that he would allow a boy with the potential for magic to go and live with _mundanes_. No, there had been a few strings pulled, to make sure that Antonio was seeing one of _their_ judges. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened and he _doubted_ it would be the last.

"He doesn't even _know_ his father, I'm not against him knowing Sebastian, Antonio's intelligent he can make up his mind on what a _giant_ douche Sebastian is. He doesn't need my input on it, but he's _my_ son. I raised him through the difficult times, I was there when he was sick, I changed the diapers—" she trails off. There had been a time where she could barely _afford_ diapers. They had been super expensive, she didn't realize that they had been that expensive.

"I'm sure the judge will take that all into account, just like he'll take into account that you currently have flexibility in your schedule that Sebastian does not. You pick him up from school almost daily, you make sure he has a hot meal, that he's getting a good education," Judy hummed in taking Santana's hand in hers.

"I should have made him sign up his parental rights earlier," Santana muttered she had been so shocked to realize that they ran in the same circles.

"Honestly, I thought he was you know, _one of those_ ," Russell muttered under his breath, causing Judy to roll her eyes.

"You have no problem with Quinn marrying a woman, you probably wouldn't have an issue with Charlie decided tomorrow that he liked men." Judy comments raising a brow at her husband.

"At this point, I'd be happy if Charlie admitted that he was a person who _liked_ people who were available." He glances at Santana and smiles, "Are you _sure_ that you're not available?"

Santana rolled her eyes, "Yes, pretty sure that Charlie and I are never going to happen. You know he still _reads_ cue cards to try and navigate social situations? Also, I mean I'd like to meet someone one day who wants to get married, who wants to be a father to Antonio and maybe you know have another kid, and Charlie well I'm not quite sure he understands that people have sex for more than just reproduction and even if he does understand that he doesn't want children."

Judy glanced at her husband before sighing, "That's _fair_. Let's be honest Russell, Charlie would be swinging way above his weight class and he doesn't quite know what's good for him most days. It was _worth_ a try."

"I want grandchildren," Russell muttered under his breath.

"We both _want_ grandchildren, which means we're going to have to wait for Brittany and Mike to give us some," Judy sighed. "However, we should be grateful that Antonio is in our lives, it's like having a grandchild that our children will _probably_ never give us."

"Yes, you're one of the family Santana, and at least you _call_ unlike all of my children," Russell added.

"Have you been drinking dwarven ale again?" Judy hissed at her husband.

"Of course, not! You told me no and you turned our son against me! He hasn't gone down to Undertown to get some for me."

Santana relaxed, watching the heads of the Fabray family bickering like children. They were fighting over _her_ , they had accepted her openly into their odd family. She smiled enjoying it for a moment, this was _what_ family was supposed to feel like. She hadn't realized it but the warmth that she got from them was different, the closeness had never _been_ something that she had found in her family. Even when she was young it was _all_ about appearances, she just hadn't realized it. Would things have been different if they had been members of _the_ magical community?

"Mom!"

Santana glanced up and smiled at Antonio who waved at her from where he was standing in front of the judge. "Antonio, you done?"

Antonio nodded and headed towards his mom and hugged her tightly before sitting down beside her, "Yeah, she asked me to tell her about my average day. I told her that I went to school and you made me breakfast, and then I went to school. Then I got to hang out with you in the shop and I got to talk to Mr. Charlie who did magic tricks for me. She asked me where I slept, and she also asked me who I wanted to live with and I told her you and Mr. Charlie. I don't want to go live with a stranger."

Santana exhaled slightly, Antonio wasn't going anywhere. "Would you like to get to know him, your father?"

Antonio shrugged, he liked what he had _now_ and he wasn't sure he liked Sebastian. "I don't know," he answers honestly.

Santana glances across the court to where Sebastian is looking at the judge who was flicking through some paperwork. She would need to be the adult about this, Sebastian would disappoint Antonio eventually. He hadn't _changed_ that much since they were children, when it really mattered Sebastian wouldn't be there for him. She wanted to spare Antonio of the trauma, but he had every right to know his father, and hopefully with all the love he was surrounded with he would be able to brush it off. Her son had a very level head.

"So, can you make something explode for your magic trick?" Antonio asked Russell who grinned widely.

Santana sighed inwardly, most of the time. He was after all a seven-year-old boy. "Antonio, we talked about encouraging people to make things explode for you."

"But it's _cool_ ," Antonio insists.

Santana narrowed her eyes, "No summoning, no explosions, no fires, no changing him into another animal," she states bluntly for Russell.

"So, none of the fun stuff," Russell grumbled mostly to himself.

Santana stared at Russell, she had never really seen the resemblance between Charlie and Russell till that moment. Charlie probably wouldn't be _thrilled_ at the comparison though.

"None of the needless dangerous stuff, remember you haven't done magic in _years_ ," Judy reminded her husband.

"I can still—"

"All _rise_ , court is now in session," The bailiff states, cutting off Russell's protests.

Santana quickly stands to her feet watching as the judge flicks through some papers on the bench and glances up at the two families, hopefully she could see that Antonio belonged with her.

"I've got like fifteen other cases to get today, so I'm just going to be _blunt_ about my ruling. I'm denying the father's request for sole custody. I've reviewed all the pertinent documents and from what I can see Ms. Lopez not only makes more money, but has a flexibility in her schedule that you simply do not. She doesn't work sixty-hour work weeks Mr. Smythe. I'm sorry but you've had very little contact with the child in question, I can't in good conscience rip him from the only home that he has only known to place him with you."

"I didn't even know he existed—" Sebastian begins immediately.

"I find that very hard to believe. From your own testimony, you were aware that she was pregnant with _your child_. But that's besides the point, may I suggest mediation? He doesn't _know_ you Mr. Smythe something like that is going to take time. Supervised visits to begin with and then finally maybe you can work out some sort of schedule before getting the courts involved in what is obviously some family feud." Judge Doosenbury said before turning to Santana. "He has a very active imagination, and he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, Ms. Lopez, but I do think that you need to carefully consider some sort of visitation, until evidence has been provided to the contrary, I believe that you _are_ the best parent to have sole custody of Antonio."

Santana grinned triumphantly, and immediately pulled her son closer, ignoring the fact that he was fiddling with his tie. She wanted to hug him, to rub it in her parents faces that _everyone_ thought she was a good parent to her son. Everyone _else_ had faith in her. "I'm okay with going to mediation. I've always thought that Antonio should have a relationship with Sebastian, if that's what Sebastian wanted."

Sebastian glances at her for a moment before looking away his cheeks burning in embarrassment.

Santana runs a hand through Antonio's hair watching as he scowls at her and tries to fix it, the best part of this whole experience was the fact that _both_ her parents looked like they had just licked a lemon. She looks at Antonio, "How about ice cream?"

"For lunch?" Antonio eyes widen at this.

Santana rolled her eyes, he would always try and take more than she was willing to give. "No, but we can have it after a burger and fries. That sounds good, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Antonio said before looking over at where Sebastian stood with his parents. "Can he join us for burger and fries?"

Santana glanced over at Sebastian for a moment biting her lip and nodding once, she glanced over at Russell and Judy.

"Don't mind us, but I think it's a—"

"It's a wonderful idea," Judy interjects before Russell can give his opinion. "We'll meet you back at the shop."

Santana relaxes and nods, "Alright, let's go see if Sebastian wants to go and get some ice cream with us." She could _do this_ , Sebastian wasn't the _worst_ person in the world he wasn't even the scariest. She had dealt with _dragons_ , and psychotic gryphons, terrifying boggarts, not to mention a crazy magician bent on getting to Charlie. She could deal with an afternoon spent with her ex-boyfriend and the son that they shared together.


	45. Chapter 45

Antonio bounced around the room with untethered excitement. "How much longer until Mr. Charlie is here? He should be, here right?"

Santana rolled her eyes from where she was currently reading, her son's enthusiasm had been endearing when he had woken up this morning. But after putting up with the same question a million times, her patience was wearing thin. "All Mr. Fabray said was that he'd be home today. I mean it could be here by eight-thirty or—"

"In twenty minutes!" Antonio shouts, causing Spot to blow some smoke at him. He ignores his pet, nothing could ruin his excitement. "I wonder what he got me!"

Santana sighed, Antonio had completely missed what she had said. Of course, he had, his hearing had become increasingly selective. "Let's not hold our breaths on that this _is_ Charlie we're talking about. He probably forgot, or he didn't even think of it. I don't think he's a present person. He was out saving the world, so if he forgot don't hold it against him."

Antonio nods, but he couldn't stop vibrating in excitement. "We should go to the diner, he's probably going to be hungry when he gets back."

Santana glanced at the time, Antonio had already eaten dinner, and while she was sure that Charlie would be hungry when he arrived the thought of going to the diner so late didn't appeal to her. "How about we just make him cookies, I mean who knows when he'll be back and it's already getting close to your bed time."

"Can I stay up till he gets here?" Antonio asks. He wanted to be the first person that Charlie saw when he got back. He had gotten taller and he wanted Charlie to acknowledge that he was no longer dwarf height. Which meant that he could go to _Undertown_ with Charlie.

Santana sighed, she really didn't know when Charlie was supposed to arrive, Russell had been extremely vague with the information. All she knew was that today was the day that Charlie was _supposed_ to be coming back. It had been six long months and there was only so many times that she could rearrange the story and tidy up a bit. She _hoped_ the Brownies had kept his place clean because she hadn't been inside in that long. She also hoped that he didn't have anything.

There's a knocking at the door and she glances up as Antonio makes a beeline for the door to open it. She flicks her eyes towards Spot who immediately stretches and flies up to one of the many nooks and crannies that she liked to hide. An action she only did when—

"You're not Mr. Charlie." Antonio's disappointed voice echoed through and Santana turned to see Sebastian standing there like the idiot he was.

She sighs, she was being mean. He was trying but her son wasn't easily impressed, which irked Sebastian to no end. She was also aware that that Sebastian quite possibly had ulterior motives for trying so hard. He so desperately wanted to enter Russell's inner circle, something that he didn't know was impossible. "What are you doing here Sebastian?"

"Well, I heard through the grapevine—"

"So, you were eavesdropping on Mr. Fabray," Santana corrected crossing her arms.

"That his son was going to be back in town, and I thought that I should meet the man who clearly has been an influence on my son. That's not wrong, is it?"

"You do remember that he's Russell's only son, right?" Santana reminds him. She didn't need to defend Charlie from Sebastian. Charlie could turn him into a toad, that would probably explode since he wasn't exactly a savant with that type of magic.

"I'm aware, but I think that we should at least get along. Antonio loves him—" Sebastian reached out to wrap his arms around Antonio's shoulder only to realize his son wasn't standing beside him and had instead returned to the couch. "Which means that I think it's important for us to get along."

Santana raised a brow, before rolling her eyes. He was so transparent that it was laughable, Charlie was just another way in. "Sure. You have fun with that."

Sebastian narrows his eyes at her before huffing and turning to Antonio. "I learned another magic trick do you want to see it?"

Antonio glanced at his mother, she said that he had to be polite to Sebastian and he couldn't think of a polite way to say no. "Okay?" He glances at his mother who smiles at him brightly and he tries to keep his face straight as Sebastian stands in front of him with a deck of cards.

Sebastian hesitates for a moment, sensing that Antonio wasn't impressed with his attempts and grits his teeth. "You know I should ask this Charlie to teach me a trick that will blow your mind." Sebastian glances at Santana. "He's probably swamped for a few months but if you can pencil me in—"

"Charlie doesn't _teach_ magic, he doesn't have the patience or the inclination to teach anyone anything."

"He's teaching Antonio," Sebastian points out.

"He likes Antonio, he doesn't really like other people," Santana responds with a shrug. "If you're going to stick around, _ask him_ yourself. I'm off the clock right now and he's already got weeks upon weeks of orders to get around too. So even if I wanted to help you out, I couldn't he literally doesn't have the time." Santana waves her hand. She pauses for a moment, wondering if Charlie would be nearly as interested in Antonio if he couldn't do magic? She immediately tucks the idea away; Charlie and Antonio were as thick as thieves.

Antonio shrugged when Sebastian looks at him. "Mom says it's cause I'm cute," he nods sagely.

"Well, I can't argue with that," Sebastian says after a moment, glancing at Santana before patting Antonio's head. "Can I see what he's teaching you?"

Antonio shrugged. "I can finally draw a perfect circle," Antonio says proudly, he had practiced _every_ single day, and even his mom said that they were perfect, he couldn't wait to show Mr. Charlie so that he could show him.

"A circle?" Sebastian asks crinkling his nose. "How is that magic?"

Antonio hesitates and looks at his mother realizing he may have said too much. "Karate kid," Santana supplies coming to his aid. "Steady hands."

"Yeah, so I practiced every day," Antonio nods. "Now he can teach me magic. He promised."

"Well, not tonight," Santana shrugged. It was getting late and she knew her son would probably crash the moment that Charlie showed up anyway. "You can wake him up bright and early." It was Antonio's summer vacation, and as much as she loved her son, she needed a few moments to herself, instead of having to keep him entertained. With Charlie around it would be so much easier to keep him entertained, in a way that didn't have her shuttling him all over the city to friend's houses. If she wasn't terrified of her son getting eaten, she would have dropped him off with Brittany and Mike.

"Can we go to the diner then?"

"Sure, you can make Charlie take you, I'm sleeping in," Santana stretches out on the couch.

"You're just going to—" Sebastian begins shocked.

"Yes. I trust Charlie with my son. So, if Antonio wants to go across the hall and bother him and make Charlie take him to a diner at some ungodly hour in the morning thus allowing me to sleep in. That's perfectly fine with me." Santana sniffed indignantly.

Sebastian frowned, Santana had to _supervise_ their visits, and yet she was just allowing Antonio to hang out with her boss. He really did need to meet this guy and give him a piece of his mind.

~O~

Antonio was still bouncing with energy, just as excited as he had been two hours earlier. Sebastian looked over at Santana with what she guessed was supposed to be a comforting smile. Instead, it only came across as condescending. "I don't think he's coming."

Santana rolls her eyes. "He is. I just don't know why I thought he would be on time."

"Don't you think Antonio should be in bed?" Sebastian suggested. "He's still just a boy—"

"Who is on summer vacation. I'm never going to hear the end of it if I don't let him see Charlie, so unless he crashes and falls asleep on his own, he can wait up for Charlie." Santana finishes decisively. It irks her that Sebastian seems to think that his opinion _matters_ when it comes to everyday parenting decisions when he hasn't made any effort to actually _be_ a father.

Sebastian holds up his hands defensively. "I wasn't questioning your judgment."

"Of course, you weren't."

Antonio glanced between his two parents and shook his head, he _really_ wished Mr. Charlie would show up so he wouldn't have to deal with the bickering. He yawns and looks for Spot, wanting to curl up next to her but she was nowhere to be found. He sighs and gets up, "Can I check?" He asks his mother.

Santana glanced over at Antonio, he did look exhausted but all he needed to do was open the door and look across the hall. "Sure, go ahead, I mean we probably would have heard him come in he's not exactly graceful."

Sebastian stands up, "We can check together," he offers following Antonio who promptly ignores him and heads to the door. It was dark in the hallway and the light seemed to be out. This place was beyond creepy and he personally couldn't understand why anyone would live here. Some movement in the shadows catches his eyes and he jumps a bit. "Uh—I think you have mice in here."

Antonio shakes his head, "We don't have mice," he informs his father and pauses for a moment when he notices a light from under Mr. Charlie's door. "He's _here_! Mr. Charlie!" Antonio shouts and bangs on the door, forgetting all of the rules that his mother and Mr. Charlie had put in place.

Santana moves quickly, "Antonio—" she begins getting up and heading to the door before Antonio could try and enter. She pauses when the door swings open and she can't help but stare at the horrible beard that Charlie had on his face as Antonio literally hug tackled him. He looked _weathered_ older, and she wasn't quite but he also looked a bit thinner if that were possible. "What did you do to your _face_? I thought you said you couldn't grow facial hair!" It had a _braid_ in it. A braid with a small tiny bow tie. It was revolting.

"I didn't think I could." Charlie rubbed his beard proudly. "The dwarves said it was very impressive. Also, don't look now but I think your dwarf is becoming a giant dwarf." Charlie shifts a bit and awkwardly pats Antonio's back.

"I grew!"

"No, that can't be." Charlie furrows his brow. "Dwarves don't grow—" He stops when he sees the new face peeking in through the doorway. Without any sort of social grace, he cocks his head to the side. "Who are you?"

Sebastian brightens at being noticed. Even if he can't get on Russell Fabray's good side through Santana, maybe he can charm his boss's son. "I'm Sebastian. I'm Antonio's father."

Charlie squints at him and then looks at Antonio and then Sebastian and then Santana. "Why is he here?"

"I don't actually know," Santana admits with a shrug.

Sebastian rolls his eyes, "I'm trying to be a part of Antonio's life. I was wrong to have missed years of it, and I want to make up for it. I do a bit of magic too."

Charlie squints at him again and then scoffs rudely, "No. You don't."

"I mean it's nothing as impressive as you do but I'd like to think of myself as a budding magician. I've learned a few tricks would you like to see?"

"No." Charlie responds flatly before looking at Antonio. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

Santana bites her lip to not laugh out loud at the surprise that crosses over Sebastian's face. "Alright, Antonio you've seen Charlie. Now you heard him it's off to bed with you. Which means it's time for you to leave Sebastian."

"But _mom_ I have to show—"

"Antonio. _Bed_." Santana repeats strongly. "You have all day tomorrow to bother Charlie and get him to tell you stories about his trip."

"You won't forget, right?" Antonio has to check, just to be sure.

"Of course not." Charlie promises.

"You don't have to go anywhere, anymore do you?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Charlie shrugs.

Santana watches as Antonio hugs Charlie once more before heading back into their apartment so he could finally sleep. She turns to Charlie, "There are crumbs in your beard."

"Ah—sorry," Charlie said smacking the hair on his face gently to try and dislodge some crumbs. "The dwarves promised me that it looked _good_ , and that every woman would find it attractive. They know their beards. They gave me this cream to make my beard shiny—"

"You don't care if women find you attractive and I hate to say this about them but the dwarves _lied_ to you." Santana retorted, ignoring Sebastian for a moment. Charlie's facial hair was the current disaster that she had to deal with. It was unkempt, and had crumbs in it and he looked like a homeless person and if Antonio was going to look up to Charlie she needed him to at least pretend to look respectable. "Look, shave it off. I liked you better when I could see your chin. I don't trust anyone with beards. You can't really see their mouths all that well."

Charlie was quiet for a moment thinking over what Santana just said. "Yes, I can see how that could be disconcerting. I'll shave it tomorrow."

"Good." That problem was solved and she turns to look at Sebastian who looks properly confused. "Antonio's gone to bed, you've met Charlie, now if you could please go home. Don't you have work tomorrow?"

Sebastian shook his head, "Yeah, but I don't have it next weekend and I was wondering if I could spend some time with Antonio, you know _bonding_."

Santana sighed, "Are my parents involved? Is he meeting my parents, I agreed to allow you to have time I never agreed to let them have time and if you're going to go behind my back and introduce Antonio to my parents then I will personally make that the next time you see my son is when he is old enough to deal with your bullshit on his own."

"No of course not, I just I dunno want to take him to the zoo and a few of my favorite places as a kid," Sebastian insists.

Santana raised her brow, Sebastian's favorite place had been her house to escape his parents fighting. "I'm serious Sebastian, if I find out and I will, that's it."

"I heard you, and I promise this isn't some ploy. I just want to spend time with him," Sebastian rolled his eyes at this and went to get his coat. "I'll call you and we can figure out the details."

Santana nods waving him off and turns her attention back to Charlie who is staring at her curiously. She waits until Sebastian leaves and she hears the door to the apartment block closing before, looking at him. "You've got a _lot_ of work to do, you have six months of orders to catch up on."

Charlie puffed out his cheeks, that didn't sound appealing to him. "You should have told them to go away," the thought of sitting down and finishing all his work didn't appeal to him.

"That's why you pay me," Santana reminded him and studied him. "Antonio missed you, so let's not make that a habit alright? Disappearing for six months at a time."

Charlie nodded and shifted awkwardly and studied Santana. "Okay."

Santana narrowed her eyes, Charlie had been gone and she had missed his awkward hugs and weird attempts to hold her hand. "I missed you too, by the way. It's boring here without you and I totally needed your help in keeping Antonio entertained."

"Free babysitting," Charlie mused and Santana flashes him a smile. He shuffles over to her and wraps her in a tight hug. "I missed you and Antonio too."

It's a surprise, Charlie was not really into the whole touching thing, but he made exceptions for her and Antonio. It was sweet in it's weird way and she had missed him, missed the magic. Brittany had tried to fill the void but it wasn't the same. She wasn't as arrogant as Charlie was and she didn't do simple magic tricks to keep Antonio entertained. "Missed you too."


	46. Chapter 46

"See, it's a perfect circle." Antonio said pushing the sheet of paper towards Charlie. "I practiced _every_ day, I drew a hundred of them every day. Now can you teach me how to summon a dragon?"

"No dragons," Santana reminded her son as she dropped another pile of orders in front of Charlie who made a face at the stacks of paper. "You're behind, but I don't think that any of these are particularly difficult, or taxing, so you might be able to get half done today if you focus."

" _Mom_ , he said he'd teach me magic!" Antonio protests. "And he still hasn't told me stories about saving the world!"

Charlie finishes up the muffin, and swallows reaching for the box of muffins that he had gotten as he flips through Antonio's work quietly. "Okay." He says finally reaching for a drawer and opening it, "I think it's time that I taught you how to do magic."

Antonio's eyes widened and he nearly fell off his stool as he stared at Charlie, he wasn't actually sure Charlie was actually being serious, "Really? But I don't have any magic—wait do I have magic?"

Santana narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling a slight sense of panic. "Does he?"

"Dwarfs can't do magic Santana, you know this," Charlie reminds her taking a bite of his muffin. "No, I'm going to give Antonio access to a _small_ amount of my magic. It's like training wheels, I'll be able to guide him through simple spells, and monitor him. It's more or less safe."

"More or less?" Santana repeats, slowly she wanted to shake Charlie, this wasn't like riding a bicycle. It was dealing with dangerous forces that Antonio didn't fully understand.

"Well it's safer then letting him go unsupervised with magic don't you think?" Charlie points out. "Nothing is completely safe, but I'm just going to walk him through some basic spells, and he only gets to access it if he does the spell correctly. I did put _some_ thought into this. He probably won't blow off his hand."

Santana's eyes nearly bugged out of her head, "What?"

"Mom, he's going to teach me _magic_!" Antonio insists.

"He's going to teach you how to blow off your hand."

"Cool!"

"No." Santana shakes her head emphatically. "You're not going to do anything unless it's completely safe."

Charlie sighed, Santana was being unreasonable. He wanted to teach Antonio very basic defensive spells, that he could activate himself. "Santana, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to him, that's why I'm letting him access _some_ of my magic. So I can monitor the spell closely. If you want to make rules about when he can use what I teach him then that's fine, but he's going to need to learn how to manipulate magic. This is far safer for him and he'll learn what not to do under my guidance."

Santana reeled a bit, feeling overprotective. "Charlie, you—"

"I know what I'm doing, the only time I'm ever in any _real_ danger is when I start doing magic that's never been done before and the only thing that happens there is there are small explosions. Maybe a fire or two, I'm teaching him basics. I promise I'm not going to teach him anything complex, just simply spells that he can use to defend himself."

Antonio was young, and something new and shiny like this, "I know that but he's _curious_ and he wants to impress you, what if he tries to do something that he can't handle or he sees a spell that he wants to try on his own? You know what you're doing and yeah I get it you were trained at an early age but he doesn't even have magic right now. He's not ready." Santana insists.

Antonio looked between his mother and Charlie for a moment, not sure what to say. "Mom, _please_?"

Santana hesitated, she probably should have put a stop to this, but she hadn't thought that it would be this soon. "Antonio, _mijo_ , it's dangerous and you might not be scared, but I am. I know you want to do this, but maybe there's another way?" She looked at Charlie for help, who was studying the scene with that odd look on his face.

"I don't understand," Charlie said after a moment. "Do you not trust me with Antonio?"

"I do trust you with him," Santana insists. "But let's not pretend that you don't have a record of causing fires and explosions, and you find it amusing when you do it. Plus, have you ever done this before? Taught someone? Monitored them?"

Charlie frowned, and put the box back in the drawer. He gets up after a moment and heads to the bookshelf and grabs a thick book before placing it on the counter in front of Antonio. "Magical theory. Enjoy. You know where to find me if you have any questions." He turns to look at Santana, "Is that better?"

Santana sighed, Charlie was making her the bad guy in all of this and she wasn't quite sure she _liked_ it. "Charlie, he's _seven_. You're giving him the keys to a car, he thinks it's fine if he loses a _hand_. He's not ready."

Antonio's face dropped, as he stared at the dusty book. "What? I thought I was going to use magic!"

Charlie inhaled, deeply and pulled out his silver coin from his pocket noting how it lit up. Because his day couldn't get any worse. "Yes, you will. But until I can find you a _proper_ teacher, you're going to spend your time going over proper magical form, and theory and possibly learning Estonian."

"I'm not saying that you can't teach him, I'm just—"

The door to the shop opens and everyone turns to look at Russell who blinks and looks around feeling the tension in the room. He chooses to ignore it and focus on his son. "You're alive."

"You sound disappointed," Charlie responded flatly.

Russell lips twitched upwards, "You made quite a bit of noise, snow lightning in California?"

"That was Quinn, not me. Even if it was, I'm sure there was a very good reason for it" Charlie said briskly. He wasn't in the mood to deal with his father, or anyone for that matter. The past six months had been irritatingly annoying and difficult. The food had been terrible and there had been various times that he had nearly run low on magic. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, the Council is _considering_ allowing you to join their ranks, as a _master_. You of course will be a _junior_ member but you'll have what your title, and you'll get to shape policy if they listen to you," Russell said noting that he finally had Charlie's undivided attention. "This is what you wanted isn't it? I mean it has been _ages_ since a Fabray has been on the council—"

"I assume you're here because they _want_ something else, if it's another mission where I'm away for six months then the answer is no. Changing weather patterns and weaponizing weather takes far more magic than most other magician's produce. The fact that I could when the vast majority of them couldn't means that I've more than earned the title," Charlie pointed out.

"Your teleportation spell, how far along is that?" Russell asked. "It was what you were working on—it should be nearly complete."

"It's not, I can't work on it in the building. The amount of magic required—do you know how catastrophic it would be if something wrong? I haven't worked on it in months." Charlie frowned. "It won't be ready for a few years, I need a power source, and while I was thinking of using the ley lines, I don't know what effect would be on the surrounding area and magic in general. It'll take _years_ of study to make sure I'm not damaging the various ecosystems. The last thing I want to do is cause a fairy-pixie war."

Santana looked between the father and son, "So, I mean apart from taking on apprentices, what exactly does a master do?"

"It's a title, more than anything it means that I am one of the _best,_ if not an authority on my particular discipline. It's a title you strive for—" Charlie began.

"It also gives you the _right_ to sit on the Council," Russell interrupts, he wasn't going to let his son brush off the greatest honor that one could receive as a magician. "There hasn't been a Fabray on the council in _years_."

"Mom was on the council," Charlie reminded him. "Mom can still be on the council she just prefers not to get involved in council business, because she doesn't like being constrained by the rules and regulations. Not to mention there's the fact that she didn't like how you schemed all the time, and used her to make power plays against Aunt Cassandra."

"Your aunt's a—" Russell pauses and looks down at Antonio who looked rather dejected, "What's wrong with him?" He asks nodding at Antonio.

"Mr. Charlie _promised_ to teach me magic but he's making me read a _book_."

"Well that's boring, why don't you—"

"She said no," Charlie waved his hand towards Santana.

It takes her a moment, to realize that Charlie and Russell were both looking at her like she was the bad guy. "I'm sure your mother would agree with me," she says lamely after a moment. "I understand that as men you probably like blowing stuff up, but he's _seven_ , and I'm not giving him a proverbial loaded gun."

"He's _perfectly_ safe. I'm sure my son was going to give him a proper conversation about responsibility and all that nonsense right Charlie?" When his son doesn't answer, he nudges him hard.

"Right. Great power, great responsibility, or something or rather," Charlie nods. "I'll take precautions to make sure he's never unsupervised and using my magic. He won't even be able to access my magic without me being here unless it's an emergency," Charlie nods.

"Right you raised a good son, I'm sure Antonio will follow _all the rules_. Right Antonio?" Russell watched as Charlie nudged the stool with his foot causing Antonio to look at his mother and nod emphatically.

"I _promise_. Please mom?" Antonio insists looking at his mother with his big brown eyes.

Santana twitched, how come she was the bad guy in all of this? She turns to Charlie. "If anything happens to him, I will do _worse_ to you. And he's going to read all those books and have homework that isn't making things explode. If you need to teach him Estonian or whatever, then teach it to him. No shortcuts."

Russell frowned, "Speaking of shortcuts, I was _hoping_ that your gate would be ready soon. That really would be the less painful way to get them to acknowledge you but for as long as you're in this holding pattern they can continue to use you and denying the fact that they _know_ that you've earned the title years ago. Even Roz agrees that you should join the ranks. You more than proved your worth this six months. Both you and _Quinn_. Which is why I suggest that you do what needs to be done."

"You're _joking_ , no one has fought for a spot on the council in nearly two hundred years," When his father smirks, Charlie groans of course his father wasn't joking.

"Exactly. You must ask for a Kampffechten."

"What's a kam—kam—" Antonio tried the word on his tongue but gave up and looked at Charlie. "What's that?"

"Kampffechten," Charlie said slowly enunciating the word slowly, "I suppose we should start with something easy before we delve into Estonian. Latin will give you a basis for many languages, and then we'll probably head into the germanic languages." He mused as he studied Antonio.

"Whatever, what is it?" Santana presses, Charlie didn't seem thrilled and if he was going to disappear again for three months or however long, she was going to protest loudly.

"In simple terms, it's a duel—well more accurately a series of duels," Russell answers. "Each increasing in difficulty. He must pass all of them if he wants to be considered a master. He _must_ impress the masters if he's even going to stand a chance."

"I don't understand, if it's that easy—" Santana begins.

"The reason that no one goes around challenging the council to a Kampffechten, is because it's stupid and dangerous. Quite a few challengers end up dead. I mean they can't _kill_ you anymore, but that doesn't mean they can't make it _hurt_." Charlie mused, it had crossed his mind a few times, but it wasn't like he had a death wish.

"Wait, you could die?" Santana repeats slowly and turns to look at Russell. "Have you lost your mind?"

Russell bristled at the insinuation. "Of course not, I'm doing this to _protect_ him. Besides Charlie's a fine duelist. And even if he loses, his mother will be right there to patch him back up. It's _fine_."

Antonio frowned, he didn't like the sound of that. "But—you could _die_."

"No, he's absolutely _not_ doing it," Santana insists immediately, she knows Charlie well enough to know that he's thinking it over. "Charlie—you _can't_."

Russell raised his brow, Santana wasn't his wife or his girlfriend she was his assistant. One that Charlie was keeping in the dark about the reality of the situation. He needed to keep his family safe, and he had faith that his son could handle it. "Santana, the alternative is that for the next five years, they put Charlie on the front lines in increasingly dangerous situations. He already—"

" _Dad_." Charlie stresses simply and nods at Antonio. "I'll think about it. I imagine that there is a time frame you want me to work in?"

"The sooner the better Charlie. I need an answer from you by Friday."

"Fine, I'll think about it," Charlie said dismissively, as he opened the drawer again and pulled out the small box. "Now, I'm going to teach Antonio magic—after going over the rules, in detail," Charlie said holding his hands up when Santana narrows her eyes at him.


	47. Chapter 47

"It's _not_ working!" Antonio huffed looking at Mr. Charlie and his mother, he had been holding the pendent in his hand tightly but he hadn't managed to actually _do_ a spell yet. It had been _hours_ and there hadn't been so much as a flicker. Worst of all Mr. Charlie wasn't even paying attention.

Charlie scratched something out on the scroll he was working on and then studied the globe in front of him before raising his finger and carving out a line in the globe with his magic. He stares at it for a moment and then blows on the globe, watching as the carved line suddenly starts to glow as he rotates his index finger and middle finger as he moved his palm upward. After a moment, he taps the globe and suddenly it looks like new before he turns his attention to Antonio. "I told you there were things that you needed to do to cast a perfect spell. _Concentrate_. Make sure your hand movements are _perfect_ and the most important thing is to make sure that the words are being pronounced correctly. You're only doing one of those things. The spell won't work unless you get everything right. If your concentration drops then the spell won't work, and you're not focused on the spell. Also, the finger movement is like this." Charlie responded once again showing Antonio how to do the proper movement with his fingers.

Antonio huffed and looked at his mother for help but she was busy organizing everything. He huffs and stares at the pendent again. He didn't even know what the spell was supposed to look like. All he knew was that he was making a shield. "I don't even know what it's supposed to look like!" He insists resisting the urge to throw the pendent down in frustration.

Santana sighed, she could see Antonio's frustration he had been at it for hours. Charlie had walked him through it and while she was just a bit _glad_ that Antonio hadn't managed to do an actual spell, she was curious herself. The last thing she needed was this affecting Antonio's self-esteem. He _wanted_ to be a magician, she just wasn't sure he was aware that it was such hard work when the Fabray family made it look easy.

"Because it won't _look_ the same. The small variations in finger movement, the will is different, the disciplines are different—" Charlie begins gearing up to lecture Antonio when Santana shoots him a look. He frowns slightly before standing up as he began to twist his fingers quickly, " _Kaitsma._ " A large circle of electricity appeared in front of Charlie with various smaller circles inside the large circle which began to twist and turn in what appeared to be three dimensions.

" _Whoa_!" Antonio's eyes widened.

"Go ahead, throw something at it. Don't aim for what you see," Charlie insists raising a brow as Antonio picked up one of his pencil and throws it at Charlie only for the shield to move without Charlie moving stopping the projectile. "I can't switch off my knowledge, but as you get older and you start learning different spells you should start incorporating them into your magic. So, because this is your first spell you will have something basic." Charlie turns when his shield suddenly shifts as a small rock bounces off and he turns to look at Santana, who shrugged and smiled.

Santana hummed and glanced at the time her eyes widening, she didn't know it had gotten that late. "Alright Antonio, that's enough for today you can try again tomorrow. Now give Charlie back the pendant and go have a bath alright." She groaned when Antonio ignored her and began to twist his fingers like Charlie had. "Antonio—"

" _Kaitsma_!" Antonio shouts.

Santana grimaces slightly, feeling a headache come on when she see's a small glimmer of something around Antonio. But it was gone quickly and Antonio looks absolutely dejected.

"I thought I felt something," Antonio insists looking at Charlie, who shrugged. He sighs and hands the pendent back when Mr. Charlie holds out his palm. He was going to _make a_ shield just like Mr. Charlie's. "We can try again tomorrow?"

"Yes," Charlie nods. "You're going to need a lot of practice. Now, I think it's time for bed?"

Antonio huffed and looked at his mother, "March Antonio, you've got a long day tomorrow, and maybe if you get a good night's sleep tonight you'll be refreshed and able to concentrate better," Santana offers.

"After my bath can Mr. Charlie tell me a story?" Antonio asked. "You promised to tell me about your adventures!"

Santana groaned and looked over at Charlie who shrugged and looked over at her. "Fine, but only if you're actually _clean_. If you don't wash behind your ears then Mr. Charlie isn't telling you anything." She watches as Antonio immediately runs off to get himself clean and she sighs and turns to Charlie who had gone back to fiddling with the globe. "Thank you."

Charlie shrugs and moves the globe so he currently studying Asia carefully before rolling up one of the large papers in front of him and pulling out another. "He made a shield ten times today, briefly. I can't see it but I can feel the power draw. However, he loses it after a second, I'm going to need to refine the pendent." Charlie mused for a moment before studying the map in front of him.

"Well, I saw a glimmer only for a moment," Santana admits rubbing her temples. "That's good, right?" When Charlie doesn't answer, her she frowns slightly. "Charlie? What's the matter? Did something go wrong?"

"He didn't blow off his hand," Charlie said after a moment. "He didn't start a fire, he didn't do _anything that_ caused you to worry. He's not using magic unsupervised. He's learning valuable skills and he's _good_ at it. Not a natural but he has some talent at it, he just needs to concentrate. Not to mention he's not giving up, he's determined to do it. You should be _pleased_."

It takes Santana a moment to realize that he's annoyed with her, that for the first-time Charlie actually seems to be irritated at her. "You're upset with me for being overprotective over my son?"

"When have I ever put Antonio in harm's way? When has he _ever_ been in danger when he's with me? I mean you certainly trust me to look after him when it suits you, but I can't teach him as something as fundamental as _magic_. I'm good at it, I know from where you're standing it may seem like I'm a menace but what I'm working on is _experimental_. This is _experimental_ ," Charlie points to the globe. "I'm not teaching him how to mix magic together, he'll learn that under the proper guidance. What I am teaching him is basics so he can protect himself, so that when he goes to whatever Magician's academy you choose for him he's not hopelessly behind."

Santana hesitated for a moment, he had a point. She did constantly use Charlie for free babysitting, he was surprisingly good at it and Antonio adored him. Even if Charlie cheated at board games, which Antonio no longer took personally. "You think this is easy for me? I didn't _grow_ up with this, I don't know how to guide him, and it's difficult for me to let you have complete control over this. I mean I can't help him with his homework if he becomes a Magician, I don't even know how to pick the best school for him. I'm over my head half the time and you make jokes about how he could blow off his hands."

"It wasn't a joke," Charlie points out. "There is inherent danger in everything and I'm not going to lie to you to make you feel better. I'm not going to let anything happen to him. It's not my fault that your grandmother didn't cultivate your abilities thereby stunting your growth. She probably didn't _notice_ , it's not like you were causing the lights to flicker, or any of the other signs. All of this was your birthright and she robbed that of you, and I'm trying to make sure that Antonio has his. What he chooses to do with it is completely on him." Charlie frowns slightly and then pushes the pendent to Santana. "You want to know what it feels like? Then I'll teach you both. It'll take me a few days to make another one, but I can't have you second-guessing me. I know what I'm doing."

"You said I can't do magic."

"You _can't_ , not with any ability of your own. It's not as if you don't have _magic_ , it's just that you can't use it like I can. You'll be using my magic, just like Antonio. I have more than enough in reserve to handle it," Charlie says shaking his head. "If what you want is an understanding, to know what your son knows so you can parent him effectively then I'll teach you everything Antonio knows. Which at this point isn't _much_."

"You do remember that I need my hands, right?"

"I'm sure my mother can reattach them," Charlie responds with a shrug and a small smile. "Now I know you were watching carefully do you need me to walk you through it?"

Santana scowled, she had tried to be discrete but clearly Charlie had caught her watching. "I can do it," Santana muttered, she had practiced what Charlie had shown Antonio so she could help him practice when Charlie wasn't around. "It's Kaitsma, right?"

"Yes, like I showed Antonio," Charlie said, watching Santana carefully for a moment and staring at her hands, he would correct any mistakes that he saw and then go back to what he was doing. The safety measures that he had set meant that Santana wouldn't be able to _do_ magic until everything was perfect which probably meant that he had a few hours of peace and quiet after he told Antonio a bedtime story. He wasn't quite sure if telling Antonio about battling demons was appropriate, dwarves were easily scared but he could change things up a bit.

Santana stared at Charlie for a moment, he didn't actually believe that she could do this. She knew him well enough to know that he was probably doing the grouchy old man thing that he did, despite the fact that he was probably under thirty, he probably wanted to get back to whatever it was that he was doing, and not talking about the fact that he was thinking of doing something stupid and foolish because his father had suggested it. She had no idea what she was concentrating on, so she would just focus on creating a protective barrier something that could protect her and Antonio if the need ever arose, as she twisted her fingers like she had seen Charlie show Antonio, like she had practiced so that she could help her son later, "Kaitsma," she muttered under her breath. The reaction was immediate, a _bright_ red light began to shimmer around her and she could feel something, that should have felt foreign to her felt comforting. Perhaps it was just Charlie's magic, but it hummed within her. She turns to look up at the magic, it was nowhere as intricate as Charlie's just a simple light barrier. She reaches to touch the magic in front of her, but it shifts expanding slightly and away from her simple touch, before flickering twice and she immediately turns to look at Charlie who looks rather pale. His ego had probably been wounded.

She's about to say something when Charlie raises his hand and sends a small bolt of electricity towards her shield. Only to see it bounce off harmlessly she's about to comment when Charlie stumbles forward and makes some quick gestures with his hands. The magic immediately ends, and that familiar feeling disappears leaving her feel like there is something missing. "What was that for—Charlie are you okay?"

Charlie grimaced and looked at his hands which were shaking, he tries to take a step forward but instead his legs give out. He takes a shaky breath, and tries to calm himself for a moment. The amount of power that Santana had drawn had surprised him, and caught him completely off guard. He hadn't exactly been prepared for it and she had taken far more than she was supposed to, and _quickly_. Far too quickly, he had _read_ about this but it had never happened to him before, he'd never run out of magic before. He glances at his hands for a moment before looking at Santana and grinning, "Interesting," he manages before his eyes roll back and he promptly passes out.


	48. Chapter 48

**AN: A few things to note.**

 **1) Hellfire isn't actually finished, and since it's completely dependent on when I want to write it, and how often I get to it with everything I have to do, and I promised my patron's early access, you get one chapter a month until I finish writing the story. To be fair, I really only have like 10 or so chapters to write, it's just taking me forever.**

 **2) The Noah Puckerman Situation needs to be addressed, I'm far to lazy to go back and erase his name from every finished piece of work that I've written, and it poses a problem for stories that are still being written. So I have to determine what I'm going to do with him in the fics that are still open, some of which is choosing a new character and putting him there, or finding every instance of his name and replacing it. But I do know that every new story post Death To My Hometown (Incoming story much later in the year, if we even get to this year), will not have him. There are some fics I've managed to scrub him out out. We'll see how that goes.**

 **3) Thank you for all the reviews, post this story, I think I may actually do the next fic day to day, to get my readership up.**

 **4) Lists are fun, and I'm probably forgetting something but whatever here's the story.**

* * *

Santana jumped when the door to the shop was pushed open, ringing the bell that alerted her to customers. She immediately forces a fake smile onto her face, hoping that no one notices as she turns to her new customer. "Welcome to— _oh_ , it's just you." She relaxes at the sight of the shorter woman and exhales. "What are you doing here Rachel?"

Rachel raised a brow at the _suspicious_ greeting, before deciding to shrug it off. With Charlie gone as often as he had been before, she had goofed off at work too. "Where is he?" She demands looking around the store.

"Where is?" Santana presses, but when Rachel gives her a dry look she can only sigh and rub the back of her neck. "He's _out_."

"Out? Doing what exactly?" When Santana shrugs Rachel's frown gets deeper. How could he be _that_ irresponsible. "Where is he? He needs to have a conversation with Quinn, she's up for becoming a master as well. They need to collaborate, and discuss and memorize various battle strategies."

Santana winced and flicked her eyes up at the ceiling, it had taken her a while to manage to lug Charlie back to his room. Antonio was currently watching over him. She had been tempted to call Judy but she wasn't exactly sure _how_ she was going to explain it. He seemed to be fine, for the most part. "I don't know?" Santana offers, it sounded lame. It wasn't even true, she _always_ had an idea of where Charlie was. He would tell her as he was halfway out the door, usually with a string of instructions which he always forgot on his way back. She had never been the _greatest_ liar, and she had no idea why she was even lying. She probably should mention it to _someone_ that Charlie was currently out for the count. Maybe his mother—but that would mean admitting that she had been the one to put him in his current state.

Rachel sighs, "Of course you don't. Of _course,_ he just ran out of here without a word. I know it drove me crazy too, how are we supposed to _assist_ if we don't know what or where he's going? It's dangerous and reckless—which is why I'm here."

"To bitch about Charlie?" Santana asks.

"What? No!" Rachel scoffs, she had better things to do with her time and if she started she probably wouldn't stop. "Quinn already informed me bluntly that she doesn't need to go over common strategies with Charlie. She _claims_ that they work well together, I mean I personally doubt it. Charlie has a habit of being a condescending jerk, which irritates Quinn and then they begin to bicker and finally magic is thrown at each other."

"That sounds like what siblings do," Santana points out.

"Yes, when they're children. Charlie and Quinn are _adults_ , and it quickly devolves—once Quinn froze over the entire store. It flooded the place and then of course Charlie made me clean it up, at least Quinn _felt_ bad and helped."

"You know, you could have just said _no_ to him. I say it all the time when he tries to suggest that I clean up after him, just need to be consistent," Santana points out. "But why are you _here_?"

Rachel blinked and then exhaled, "Of course all of this is _new_ to you but we as _Assistants_ play an integral role in supporting our magicians in such an event. We are their support. As much as this is a test of our magician's it also tests our skill. There will be important eyes upon us."

"Oh." Charlie had certainly never mentioned it before. Of course, he _might_ have if he currently wasn't in the state he was in right now. "Okay, so what do I need to know? First Aid? Do I just need to hand him some water? I can do all of those things. I took a first aid course already because Charlie has this odd thing with fire, and Terri made me take it."

Rachel immediately rubbed her temples, it was far worse than she thought. "I know that Charlie basically uses you as a shopkeeper, but your job has always been to support him. Whether it is with books, with first aid, with whatever he needs. The theory is with a strong assistant, the magician becomes even stronger."

Santana stared at Rachel a frown on her face, her job was simple and she didn't actually _mind_ watching the store. Plus, someone needed to keep Charlie from _breaking_ the universe. "Charlie has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of most spells, by any account. You know this, he _boasts_ about it. The only time he asks me for help when it comes to spell-casting is to pass him a book because he's in the middle of something. As for first aid, we call Judy most of the time or he pays an exorbitant amount for one of your healers. I have no magic, and if keeping him organized is all I need to do then that's how this works. He's the magician, all eyes should be on him not me."

"That's certainly the old way of looking at things, you're _his_ partner and he should treat you as such."

Santana shrugged, "He doesn't treat me like I'm subservient to him, which is why I tell him to do his own laundry. I already have a son, he doesn't get to act like Antonio just because he can. He's really not that hard to manage."

"Well, that's because he _likes_ you," Rachel points out crossing her arms over her chest, Charlie was a nightmare to manage and she wasn't going to let Santana rewrite history. "Something that won't last, because Charlie has the attention span of a gnat, and eventually he _will_ settle down if only to get his parents off his back about it."

Santana sighed, she didn't want to have this conversation with Rachel. "That's _not_ going to happen, also my relationship with Charlie is _none_ of your business. Why are you here Rachel? If Charlie needs me to do anything for him, then he'll _tell_ me probably last minute, but he'd tell me."

"Because this is _it_ for Quinn, her becoming a master is something she never thought would _happen_ because Charlie and Brittany _messed_ with her memory—"

"They did what _Quinn_ asked them to do, it's a decision that Quinn made the fact that she can't remember it, isn't Charlie's fault and it isn't Brittany's. I don't blame Quinn for making that decision and Charlie and Brittany aren't the bad guys in this situation. Noah Puckerman is," Santana interrupts, before rubbing her temples.

"I'm _saying_ that Quinn never thought she'd _make_ it and this is her chance, this is something she wants and I want to make sure that she gets it. Isn't that what you want for Charlie?"

Santana grimaces for a moment, "What I want, Rachel is for Charlie to be the man he's supposed to be, if he wants a dusty old title to validate him then he should go for it, I just don't think gladiatorial combat is the way to go. Antonio adores Charlie, and I don't want to explain to my son why Charlie was an idiot and got himself killed."

"Quinn can't do this without him."

"I'm aware that nothing I say or do will stop Charlie," Santana points out. "If he's going to do it then he's going to _do_ it, and he's going to do enough to win and get the title so he can basically retire to his shop and do his weird little magic experiments that I'm sure break the fabric of reality and teach Antonio how _not_ to do that. So now that we've gotten that all figured out, seriously Rachel what do you want from me? Because I have a million things to do today because Charlie still has a million orders that he needs to finish and I'm a single mother so unless you're about to teach me something then you need to leave."

Rachel scowled at Santana, "Fine but when the other assistants judge you, which they _will_. Don't come crying to me."

"I won't! Stopped caring about other people judging me when I had Antonio at sixteen!" Santana calls after her before waiting for Rachel to leave before hopping out from behind the counter and quickly locking the door, she needed to check on Charlie and Antonio. Asking her seven-year-old son to watch after Charlie _was_ not her greatest idea but she wasn't sure what else to do. She certainly couldn't tell Judy she may have killed her son.

She scrambles up the stairs and bursts into Charlie's apartment only to realize that he wasn't there and her son was missing as well. "Shit— _Charlie_?"

"Mom! Mr. Charlie's drank _all_ the milk! And he ate all the cookies and the ice cream and he's eaten all the cereal!" Antonio calls from her apartment.

Santana immediately heads to her apartment only to see Charlie emptying all her ham onto two slices of bread. "What are you _doing?"_

Charlie shook the nearly empty jug of milk and turned to look at Santana. "Food. Hungry," he grunts.

Antonio swiped a piece of ham while Charlie wasn't looking and munched on it, "You're going to need to do shopping mom, Mr. Charlie nearly ate _everything_ in the fridge! And I ordered ten pizzas for him on the phone!"

Santana raised a brow her kitchen looked like a tornado had hit it and she grimaces, as Charlie attempts to empty the mayo onto what she assumed was a sandwich. "Uh—Antonio maybe you shouldn't stand so close, he might eat you." She had seen Charlie demolish a lot of food but this was a bit much even for him.

Antonio pauses for a moment and takes a step away from Charlie who immediately begins to demolish the food. It really did look like Mr. Charlie could mistake him for a hamburger. "Why is he eating so much?"

"I don't know," Santana winces as Charlie finishes demolishing the sandwich. It hadn't even been thirty seconds. "Just keep your fingers away from him, I honestly think he might try and gnaw at them."

Charlie opens the fridge once more and notices the whipped cream and grabs it and shakes it only to realize it was empty. He grunts and stretches his hand out for a moment and only a fly from it. "Need more food," he explains. He'd never felt so _useless_ or hungry before.

"Okay. Yeah. We've ordered some pizza it should be here soon—um then I guess we can go to that buffet that we went to with your parents?" Santana offers as she moves to a cupboard and opens it to reveal some candy that was out of Antonio's reach and hands them to him. "What happened?"

"Drained me dry," he grunts as he tries to open the wrapper but his hands are shaking far too much.

"Let me help!" Antonio insists opening a candy bar for Charlie who immediately stuffs it into his mouth. Almost immediately Antonio begins to open each of the candy bars for Charlie.

Santana stared at him, "What do you mean drained you dry?"

Charlie raised his hands again and a pathetic spark happened. "No more magic, I don't have the energy," he manages. His stomach gurgles and he grimaces clutching it. Bad idea, even he had a limit of how much he could eat and he was definitely pushing it.

"I don't understand—I _did this_?" Santana asks.

"Yes. It was an accident, you're _starved_ for magic—should have realized it before. Interesting. I shouldn't have drunk all that milk—"

"If you throw up in my kitchen you're cleaning it up!" Santana says a defense mechanism from when Antonio was still small. She was semi-okay with his vomit, others not so much. She frowns when Charlie merely belches loudly, causing Antonio to laugh. She winces he was such a child. "Okay—how long till your magic comes back?"

"I dunno, where's that pizza?" He asks after a moment.

"Charlie you're supposed to be in some gladiatorial combat so you can be a master, _soon_." Santana reminds him only to have Charlie shrug his shoulders. "Oh—Rachel is definitely going to murder me in my sleep." There's a heavy knock on the door and she immediately sighs. "I'll go get your pizza don't eat my son Charlie."

Charlie turns to Antonio and pokes him in the forehead. He was far to boney to eat.


	49. Chapter 49

"I'm just going to say it, because I think it needs to be said. This is a _terrible_ idea, and you're going to get yourself killed Charlie. You couldn't even hold a steady spark yesterday," Santana reminded him as they entered a large discrete building which looked like any old government building. The pulsing behind her eyes, alerted her to the fact that there was more to the boring old building then met the eye. She was _really_ beginning to despise illusion magic.

Charlie stretched out his hands, holding out his fingers as he studied his hands carefully. "Yes, but I can hold a steady spark now. I know you're concerned that my reserves aren't what they should be but I have enough in the tank to deal with anything that comes up. Now, Antonio, are you ready to see some _real_ magic?" Charlie asked Antonio who was currently walking in between them, holding onto his shirt.

"Yeah!" Antonio grins widely. He didn't understand why his mother was so worried, Mr. Charlie insisted that he was fine which probably meant that he was fine. He had done a few magic tricks for proof and sure they weren't very flashy or _good_ magic tricks they had worked. More or less.

Santana frowned and glanced over at her son for a moment, "How much magical power do you actually have?"

"I'm _probably_ on the same level as Rachel, the difference is I know thousands of spells and unlike Rachel, I actually completed my magical training. I'll be fine, the well is deep enough for me to draw out my power. All I need to do is keep it simple. These types of things favor simple spells anyway," Charlie says with a wave of his hand.

Santana gritted her teeth, that didn't actually make her feel better. He had been eating non-stop for the past few days and even though he said he could hold a steady charge, that was all it seemed he could do. The thought of him going against masters in his field _scared_ her, and it wasn't just because she was afraid that he was going to get himself killed in front of Antonio. She was actually scared he could possibly die. He wasn't taking this seriously and it was showing. "Rachel admits she has trouble doing simple spells, there's not enough magic or something."

"Rachel's mistaken about the reason she can't do magic like Quinn and I can. Rachel doesn't have an aptitude for the magic I do and I'm not simply talking about my discipline, it's a large world and there are hundreds of different branches of magic. North American magic, is its own branch and it's similar to European magic. Native American magic, Hoodoo, there are various Asian magics that I'm not familiar with, nor do I have any aptitude in them."

"Do you know anything other branches of magic?" Santana questions.

Charlie flashes Santana a smile, he really couldn't get anything past her. "I don't have the aptitude for them, nor do I have the patience or desire required to spend the years to relearn magic from the ground up. The problem with North American magic is for the complicated spells it requires a larger pool of magic and we are for the most part trying to subjugate reality to our will. And before you point out that my well is running close to empty, but trust me I'll be fine."

"You'd better be, Antonio is watching and apparently as your assistant people are going to be judging me as well, so you can't make _me_ look bad," Santana sniffs, pausing to look at Antonio who was being uncharacteristically quiet. It takes her a moment before she realizes that her son is practically hypnotized by his surroundings and she turns to take it all in.

"They have a gift shop!" Antonio says tugging on his mom's hand and pointing to a large store that seemed to be bustling with people. His jaw drops and turns to look at the aquarium that seemed to be floating in place just in front of them. "And an aquarium!" He reaches out to place his hand on the glass only for his hand to slide into the water the fish that were swimming around ran through his fingers before he pulls it back quickly.

"Careful there are sharks in those waters, and I'm sure there are merpeople, nasty beasts they are," Charlie comments pulling Antonio back a bit.

" _Sharks_?" Santana questions turning to him only for Charlie to shrug. "Who thought _that_ was a good idea?"

"The same idiot who thought that capturing merpeople and throwing them into this aquarium was a good idea." Brittany says in a testy tone from behind them. "They are sentient and it's cruel and—" Brittany turns to her brother for a moment her eyes widening, "What the hell did you do?"

"Nothing, it's not permanent, my magic has been coming back bit by bit, I give it two months before it's back to normal completely," Charlie shrugs with a wave of his hand, before pulling Antonio back from putting his head into the floating aquarium.

"You're in the Kampffechten _today_." Brittany turns on Santana, "You're letting him go through with this?"

"I'm not _letting_ him do anything, he dragged us here today despite my objections. What am I supposed to do? Tie him up and sit on him?"

"That's a bit advanced don't you think?" Mike speaks up looking at Charlie.

Brittany pauses for a moment before laughing at Mike's joke. "He's right Santana, I'm not sure he would know what to do."

"I don't get it," Charlie frowned as Santana shook her head. "Am I supposed to understand the joke?" He asks Santana who rolls her eyes.

"He's not listening to me maybe he'll listen to you," Santana groans.

Brittany shrugged, "Well, I mean I suppose getting your butt kicked will help you with mom and dad's big plan to show you off to potential suitors."

This caused both Charlie and Santana to turn to her in surprise, "What?"

Brittany hummed in response and shrugged. "Dad's using the Kampffechten to arrange you a marriage, since you're not going to do it by yourself. Even if you don't get married we're one of the last few purebloods left, and since you're a guy—go forth and multiply. There are quite a few women who are interested actually—"

Charlie recoiled at the very thought. "I've changed my mind Santana let's go home—" Charlie turns around and pulls Antonio with him. Only for a bright light to appear his limbs locking him into place.

" _Charles_." Russell said a smile on his face from where he was approaching them before his son could run away. "Santana, Antonio, you're in for a—" Russell narrowed his eyes at his son who was trying to squirm away. Charlie would have normally gotten out of such an easy spell in seconds but he truly seemed stuck. "What the bloody hell have you done?"

"There was an _incident_ , I unfortunately drained myself dry though this is more than enough—"

"You know very well it isn't," Russell interrupts. "How could you let this happen?"

Santana swallowed, it was technically _her_ fault that this did happen but Charlie had merely waved it away like it wasn't a big deal. "He said his magic is coming back, and I have absolute faith that he can handle whatever they throw at him."

Russell turned to Santana for a moment his cheeks a rosy purple as he struggled to find the words. "He's practically a _mundane_."

"It's hardly permanent and quite frankly I don't know why you're making such a big deal about it. Also, I'm not interested in your weird plan to sell me off to the highest bidder. I have no interest in having any miniature humans." Charlie comments as his father finally lets him go.

"Please at the very least tell me you have a plan!"

"Of course I do," Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Is it a good plan?" Antonio asks after a moment. He glances at his mother who immediately pats his head.

"Of course it is."

"Please tell me your plan isn't to use Quinn as a battery," Russell groans when Charlie pauses and looks at him for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. " _Charles_."

"We're late," Charlie points out. "So, can we save the yelling till _after_ I become a master?"

Russell groaned, Judy was going to _kill_ him for this. She had been looking forward to grandchildren but there was no way that his son was going to impress anyone getting his ass kicked.

~O~

Santana chewed on the inside of her cheek as she helped Antonio into his, they had a direct view of all the action that would probably be taking place. She had no idea how they had managed to fit such a large room inside the building, but it had been altered to resemble an old Roman colosseum. But what surprised her the most was the number of people who had gathered, sure there were empty seats, but there was at least a thousand-people gathered to watch the proceedings.

"Mr. Charlie is going to win, right?"

Santana glances down at Antonio who was balancing on the edge of his seat so he could see better. "Well, he said he said he was going too, but I mean—" Santana shrugged, Charlie had _better_ win if only because she didn't want to deal with the horror that would-be Rachel Berry-Fabray. Quinn had seemed amused but Rachel had of course been horrified. She turns to Brittany, wondering where she had gotten a bag filled with popcorn but shakes her head, "So how does this work?"

"No clue, there hasn't been one of these in _centuries_ , bet you that the council is totes making it up as they go along. They're not exactly thrilled that the twins are challenging them to become masters, it means they can't really boss them around anymore."

Mike nods in agreement with Brittany, "It's for the best, no more top-secret missions that have him all over the world. He won't _have_ to simply disappear for months on end without a word, of course he might do that anyway."

Santana exhales, that actually didn't sound that bad. Even though she had been busy with her custody battle with Sebastian she had missed him, and she had worried. Not knowing whether he was alive or dead had given her _anxiety_ , the type of anxiety she felt when Antonio did magic. "That's good, and he'll be able to take apprentices, right?"

"He's going to _hate_ being a master," Brittany laughs a huge grin on her face.

Santana smiled, Charlie didn't have the patience to deal with most people, he made an exception for Antonio and she hoped that relationship would continue. She's about to say something when Judy's laugh causes her to turn slightly and frown, when she saw Judy surrounded by rather _young_ women.

"His current state is only temporary, in two months or so he should be back to normal. It will probably be best to have _relations_ then. My son, is many things, powerful, handsome as you can clearly see. But his intellect is something else entirely," Judy beamed.

Santana narrowed her eyes slightly, "Are they really just going to sell him off to the highest bidder?"

Brittany flicked her eyes towards her mother and smiled, "Yes, it's why they haven't mentioned that Charlie's got the emotional maturity of a child, and that's an insult to children." Brittany studied Santana for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know why it bothers you, this happens every few years, my parents will parade the most beautiful, the most powerful women in front of Charlie. That hasn't worked so now they're looking at an arranged situation. It's Charlie's fault for not showing any interest or attempting to appease them. He doesn't even have to take care of the child, most of these women just want someone as _pure blooded_ as we are to have a child with, they don't _actually_ want Charlie."

"That's— _horrible_ ," Santana frowned crossing her arms. It seemed like something her parents would do and she had thought that the Fabray's were above that. She wraps an arm around Antonio as people began to fill the opposite side of the arena. She can't help but snicker at the robes that most of them were wearing, signifying that they were probably important. "He's not going to have to wear that, is he?"

Mike shakes his head, "He'll get his own if he passes but it's not like mandatory. I mean as you can see some of the members of the council aren't wearing it. Judy doesn't wear hers."

"Yeah neither does our Aunt Cass—there she is!" Brittany stood up and immediately began to wave her hands like a crazy person. "Aunt Cassandra! _Hey_! It's me! Your favorite niece."

Santana watched as a blonde glanced over at them staring at them for a moment before finding her seat, promptly ignoring Brittany. "Maybe she didn't hear you?"

"Oh, she totes did, she's just pretending she doesn't know who I am, that's classic Aunt Cass, she's kind of a you know _b-i-t-c-h,"_ Brittany spells out for Santana.

Santana shakes her head trying not to smile, "He's seven Brittany he can read and spell, he's also not paying attention to us right now. The only time he gets this focused is when magic is involved and he's now surrounded by it. He's not going to stop paying attention until it's over. I don't think he's even going to blink."

"Mom! There he is, there he is," Antonio shouted clutching his mom's hand and trying to drag her attention to the arena where both Quinn and Charlie walked out from where ever they had been waiting, there was some cheers but mostly there was just a giant _gasp_ as everyone focused on Charlie. It was enough to get her to sink into her seat some more. "Go Mr. Charlie!" Antonio shouted watching as Charlie turns to look at him for a moment and waves back before turning around.

"Well, if all eyes are on him, that means that Quinn can do most of the heavy lifting," Brittany mused, patting Santana on her back. "So, you going to tell me what you did?" When Santana turns to her she shrugs, "The guilt is coming off you like a _wave_."

"It was an _accident_ ," Santana insists after a moment. "He was just attempting to teach me the same magic spell that he was teaching Antonio. He said that the power draw on my end was too much and it drained him dry, he's been recovering—and by that, I mean eating everything that hasn't been nailed down for the past few days, and he can barely hold a spark."

Brittany blinked, she had expected something else entirely not _that_ , "Well—that's _interesting_."

"That's what he said, before he dropped," Santana groans.

"Well, of course he finds it fascinating. I mean I do too, but I'm talking about why he decided to keep it to himself. I mean, I'm sure my mother knows _something_ that was reinvigorating—"

"Shush, it's starting!" Antonio hissed at them causing Brittany to grin wildly and Santana to gently flick Antonio on the ear. He would only be getting away with it for today.


	50. Chapter 50

"Please, tell me you have a plan Charlie. Our family and my friends are watching, even if this doesn't work out I don't want to look like a complete novice," Quinn muttered to her twin, who seemed completely uninterested in the events that were transpiring around them. She could hear the hushed whispers and she could see a few people pointing at Charlie. She had brushed off Rachel's concern because she knew her brother better than anyone.

Charlie eyed his surroundings carefully, he quickly stomps his foot to make sure that the ground was solid, the large arena had plenty of space to hurl spells at each other and he assumed that there was a barrier protecting people in their seats. "Now, the question is this an illusion or merely architectural magic?" Charlie mused mostly to himself as he took out his silver coin and threw it straight up into the air.

"Really you think that they are going to skimp on looking impressive. Illusions can only do so much," Quinn reminded him as Charlie caught the coin and quickly pocketed it. "So? What's the plan?"

Charlie frowns slightly, this needed to be done in such a way that wouldn't give away what they were doing. Everything would need to be on point, and done with such precision. "How's your summoning?" He asks after a moment.

"Depends on what you want me to summon," Quinn shrugs. She could do simple summons but nothing far too complex. Summoning had never been one of her strengths.

Charlie studied Quinn for a moment, it was unfortunate but he could work with that. "Okay, how is your golem making?"

"Seriously?" Quinn asked. "The amount of concentration—"

"Is there anything you're good at?" Charlie interrupts, running a hand through his hair. "Tell me so I can work it into my plan."

Quinn scowled at the insult. This was why she didn't enjoy working with Charlie. Sure, they got things done, and sure it was sometimes fun but for her younger brother he was always a know-it-all little shit, "You know what, you're on your own. Figure out how to do whatever you're planning on your own. I don't even know why I'm trying to help. Considering that you're the one that barely has any power."

"For now," Charlie mused to himself. He had never actually tried to do what he had planned before, it was dangerous and reckless and he was sure someone was going to get killed, he would just have to make sure it wasn't Quinn—or himself. "Just don't get in my way Quinn."

"Seriously? What the fuck are you going to do? You've barely got anything in the tank. Stay the hell out of my way," Quinn grumbled. She eyed him for a moment before sighing, if they were going to get through this with their limbs attached she would need him. Being the mature one sucked. "What's your plan."

"Summon a thunder giant," Charlie responded after a moment.

Quinn stared at her brother, she had always known that there was something wrong with her brother. This was just the proof that she needed. "You're insane."

"It's been brought to my attention, that may be the case."

"You can't control a force of nature like that—"

"I don't plan to control it. I plan to recharge myself, and dismiss it. According to our father and Rachel, I can't use you as a battery, and since I don't have time to wait for my body to return to it's natural state, I'm just going to give myself a little—boost."

"You're going to get yourself killed," Quinn hisses. She couldn't believe he was seriously considering this as a possibility. "A little boost? Have you completely lost it?"

"I once took out the entire eastern seaboard accidentally, when I was a child. I think I can manage a thunder giant."

Quinn grimaced, his magic had been unstable back then, and she was sure her parents were exaggerating. He had probably taken out the entire block. "You're really buying into your own hype, aren't you?"

"Everyone else has bought into it. That's why you need to be the distraction while I get this done," Charlie frowned as he rotated his shoulders.

"Do you—" Quinn began only to turn when she realized that several people were approaching them. She personally would rather he use her as a battery. He was probably going to get them all killed. She turns and smiles about to thank the representatives of the council for this opportunity when she realizes that she's looking at Sue Sylvester and Roz Washington, immediately forcing her to stand up straight. She can't help but elbow her brother to force him to do the same. "Sue. Roz," she nods at both women.

Roz immediately reached forward and smacked Charlie upside the head. She didn't need to say anything further, he had been her student and this disaster could only reflect poorly on her. "If you embarrass me—"

"You should stop giving me incentive to fail," Charlie responds as he begins to unbutton his shirt.

"Oh, dear god Charlie, what are you doing? Are you trying to make our parent's job easier? Do you want an arranged marriage? Stop that!" The moment she began using her powers, the temperature would drop to a dangerous level. He was putting himself at risk.

Charlie flicked his eyes over to Quinn, "Trust me."

"I don't. You're a fucking maniac," Quinn grumbles. "Don't complain to mom when you get frostbite," she throws in.

Sue moved quickly thumping the two of them on their heads, they could do this for hours if she let them and there wasn't the time. "There hasn't been one of these in centuries, many of us have forgotten the rules, and very few members of the council wanted anything to do with this. Those that did—well, it was believed since that we were your masters at one time, that it would color our judgement. The same argument was made for your aunt and your mother."

"Get to the point Sue, who are we facing?" Quinn asks watching as her brother finished stripping out of his shirt and tossing it on the ground, in an unceremonious hump. He was such a child.

"Two people who are as crazy and as powerful as the two of you," Roz scoffs, this was a terrible idea but she wasn't surprised Russell Fabray had many terrible ideas. She wasn't unaware that this was Russell's attempt to sway the council.

"Get on with it," Quinn pressed, this close to getting fed up. Sue, Roz and their aunt Cassandra all had a reputation for being batshit crazy, she couldn't actually think of anyone else.

"Bryan Ryan and April Rhodes were the only ones that were ready to test you. Holly Holiday was also interested in testing you so if you don't do enough to prove that you're worth it—I'm looking at you Charles, then she will be joining." Sue pauses and stares at Charlie who was currently studying the arena. "Take this seriously, because we can't be held responsible if they accidentally kill you."

"Which is why you need to sign the contract absolving the council of any guilt should you two get yourself killed, the odds aren't in your favor." Roz throws in snapping her fingers as a long scroll appeared with two pens, floating in the air.

Charlie grabs the pen and is about to sign before pausing, "And if we accidentally put them down are we absolved?"

"Of course," Sue smiles as Charlie scrawls his name at the bottom. "With the amount of magic that you're currently carrying around, this was made necessary. We don't think it'll last long."

Charlie smiles, they were going to underestimate him, which was fine. He only hoped that Quinn could take care of herself for ten minutes. "Of course."

Quinn studies her brother for a moment before grabbing the pen and signing it. They were in this mess together, she trusted him to stay alive long enough for him to do his crazy plan. "Don't get yourself killed."

"You too," Charlie responds.

~O~

"You know for being magicians and having all that power at your fingertips, I'm surprised that you don't have some sort of I dunno magical referee or something that will stop the fight when it's clear that someone is going to die," Santana grumbles, slightly aghast at the fact that Charlie had just literally signed his life away. She didn't care if he had some plan or if he seemed confident, Charlie wasn't invincible. He bled, she had seen him bleed all because he hadn't been paying attention to where Lord Tubbington was. How he missed such a freakishly fat gryphon still boggled her mind.

Brittany hummed, and motioned for another bag of popcorn to be brought towards her. "I can feel your worry washing over you like a wave Santana. You need to come down Charlie's reasonably intelligent, doesn't have much in the way of a survival instinct but he's reasonably intelligent."

"I'm worried because Antonio's watching—"

"Mom! It's starting, shush. He needs to concentrate." Antonio says smacking his mother's arm as he leaned forward as far as he could.

Santana flicked her eyes to the arena watching as Charlie and Quinn exchanged handshakes with their opponents, as if they weren't about to rip each other apart. Charlie had explained the rules of a duel before but she hadn't really been paying attention, as they moved to a neutral position. It wasn't until Charlie's back was to them that she realized that his fingers were moving, he was doing a spell. She can't help but lean forward, she doesn't recognize it and turns to Brittany. "What's he doing?"

Brittany shrugged, "Probably some fancy spell that will be wasted—" Brittany paused for a moment leaning forward when a flash of blue light appears in his hand. She doesn't blink when he drops it and she watches it burrow into the ground behind his foot. "Oh, he has a plan—I think. I hope he has a plan."

"What's his plan?" Antonio asks tearing his eyes off the arena and looks at Brittany.

"I don't know, I hope he has a—oooh," Brittany grimaced as Charlie was suddenly flung into the air and came crashing against the invisible shield that was up to protect the people in the stands. Hopefully he could take a beating as well, because whatever his plan was he needed to get to it and quick.

Santana grimaced as Charlie slid to the ground, and immediately tried to block Antonio's view as Charlie immediately put up a shield to stop the magical bolts from hitting him. But even from here she could see the shield flickering.

"Mom! I can't see!" Antonio huffed and stood up so he could get a better look.

Santana winced as Charlie was once again slammed hard against the shield this time his own shield broke and she could swear she saw something green wrap around his foot and send him flying once more. "What are there disciplines?"

Brittany frowned, "I'm not quite sure what April Rhodes is, I'm not sure if it's a physical discipline or a natural magic, there can be some overlap, but she's using plants in a physical manner, you can see it. Bryan Ryan is an illusionist as you can see—or well not see."

Santana flicked her eyes over towards Quinn, and immediately grimaced as she felt a massive headache. One that she powered through and winced as she studied Quinn's opponent watching as Quinn kept missing hitting a rather stationary target. "I don't understand? What's going on over there?"

Antonio frowned and pushed his mother's hand away from his vision and looks down at where Quinn was having trouble pinpointing the real Bryan Ryan. "There's like five of him—now six! He's multiplying mom!"

"No, he's not, he's just standing there." Santana pointed to where she saw him.

"There's no one—oh, your third eye," Brittany grinned, and focused on the area Santana was pointing at. She couldn't see anyone. "Invisibility," she says after a moment.

"Seriously! That's so cool!" Antonio shouted impressed, how was Quinn going to handle that? He flicks his eyes over to Mr. Charlie who currently had a shield up, as vines wrapped around his shield a crushing force was being applied to the shield. "Come on Mr. Charlie, you can—" Antonio's head snaps towards Quinn, his eyes widening in shock as a large ice structure was suddenly on the ground swallowing up half of the arena and slamming against the shield that had been in place. "Whoa."

"Well, this was never going to be that much of a problem for Quinn, when in doubt freeze the fuck out of everything and everyone around you." Brittany clapped her hands grinning. Now all Quinn needed to do was help Charlie and this whole thing would be over before they knew it.

"Well that means she can save Charlie, right?" Antonio asks turning to look at Brittany.

Brittany was about to point out that Charlie wouldn't stand for Quinn rescuing him when she feels a pulse of magic rip through the arena, shattering the shields that protected them. Almost immediately Brittany stands up only for the ground to buckle and groan, knocking her to her feet. She lands unceremoniously on Mike's lap. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Mike grins, before the ground buckles once more shaking the very foundation of the arena. "What's going on."

"Charlie's summoning something big," Brittany said getting up and quickly holds her hand up, creating a shield around her husband and Santana and Antonio.

"What's he summoning—whoa!" Antonio grabs onto his mom as the ground buckles again. He eyes the arena as Charlie was dropped and Quinn fell to the ground.

"Move! Move! Move!" Charlie shouted running over to Quinn and grabbing her as the two of them ran and the ground under them suddenly exploded and a dark thunder cloud suddenly appeared in the shape of a hand suddenly began to dig into the ground, as the ground fractured and began to pull apart. Arcs of lightning began to strike the ground as the lights suddenly shattered.

Santana jumped when Charlie and Quinn landed on the ground in front of them. She could hear the screaming as people began to scatter.

"I thought you said you were just summoning a thunder giant," Quinn shouted at Charlie who was rubbing the large bruise that was developing on his face.

"I did—" Charlie insists, as another hand appeared and the ground shook again.

"Charlie, that's not a thunder giant— that's a thunder titan." Brittany shouts at him. How could he be so reckless and irresponsible. This building couldn't hold a titan, nothing could hold a titan.

"Oh. That explains it," Charlie said as the ground shook and a large head started to push through the ground. He didn't look particularly perturbed as he turns to look at Santana and Antonio and smiles at them. "Not bad huh?"

"Whoa! I—what's a thunder titan?" Antonio asked turning to Brittany who looked beyond angry.

"Think thunder baby but much, much bigger," Quinn said as Charlie stood up. At least he had managed to separate them from their opponents. "Do what you need to do to recharge Charlie before that thing splits this building into pieces."

"Right," Charlie says standing up completely and walking up to one of the giant hands, the titan was still attempting to free himself from the ground, which continued to buckle and wane underneath him. He exhales slowly and relaxes his body, before slamming both of his hands into cloud finger, ignoring the pain as lightning struck him several times, the titan trying to force him off.

"What's he doing?" Santana asks Quinn who looked absolutely horrified. She couldn't blame her for it, lightning was hot, it was dangerous and Charlie seemed to be right in the middle of it, his skin was beginning to blister in front of her and she could swear she could smell cooked human flesh.

"Being a fucking dumbass," Quinn retorts as Charlie's suddenly sent flying back crashing into Brittany's shield. His hands are a bright red and covered with bright blisters. His hands looked mangled and her brother looked to be in quite a bit of pain. "I told you, it was a shit idea—" she began only to pause. His magic, she could feel his magic again. But the cost was great, his hands were burnt blistered and they looked damaged. She doubted even their mother could fix them.

Charlie raised a mangled hand and made some slow gestures, focusing through the pain and just as suddenly as the thunder titan had been there it disappeared causing the ground to buckle and implode inwards. Charlie frowned and turned his attention to his opponents. He stared for a moment before twisting his wrist, grimacing in pain as his body protested at the action, a large blister on his wrist rupturing.

"Charlie—" Santana began only for Charlie to continue, his blisters breaking and oozing as he moved. It had to hurt but he looked absolutely determined to continue as lightning arched and struck April Rhodes and Bryan Ryan sending them flying towards the other members of the council.

Quinn smirked and raised her own hands, as she immediately buried the council in a thick coating of ice and snow. "Well, that was fun, you should probably go and see mom about fixing your damn hands, what were you thinking?" Quinn demanded.

Charlie grimaced and looked at his ruined hands, "I was thinking that I promised Antonio a show, and I hope I delivered," Charlie says looking at Antonio who was practically vibrating with excitement. "I think the dwarf is pleased." He flicks his attention towards Santana. "I told you I'd be fine."

Santana scowled and pointed at his hands that were just hanging there oozing what she assumed was pus. "That's not fine. That's not even close to fine." She immediately grabs Charlie by one of the loops of his belt and pulls him towards her, "Let's go find your mother and get you looked at. I mean you're done with this right?"

Charlie turned to look at the council, completely unimpressed, maybe if it had been Sue or Roz or even Cassandra this might have been an actual challenge, but it hadn't been, he'd just gotten knocked around. "I believe so."

"I wanna see more magic," Antonio says immediately reaching for Charlie's hand to stop when he realizes that Charlie's in quite a bit of pain and his hands are gross. "When you get better."

"Of course, after my mother yells at me for being reckless. This isn't the worst thing that's happened to me. This can be fixed. It's minor," Charlie promises. It would take his mother some time but he didn't doubt her skills.

"Your mom does that too?" Antonio asks in surprise.

"Yes. I imagine she worries about me, but as you can see I'm—ow Santana!" Charlie grunts as Santana reaches upward and yanks on Charlie's ear hard.

"See Antonio, this is what happens when you don't listen to me. Does Charlie's hands look fine?" Santana questioned as she pulled Charlie along with her. She didn't care if she was embarrassing him, he had nearly given her a heart attack, in fact she could still hear her heart beating in her damned chest.

"No," Antonio shakes his head, trying not to laugh at Mr. Charlie, who was trying pathetically to break free from his mother.

"Santana, let go!" Charlie grumbles as she finally stops tugging on his ears. He frowns slightly and looks up only to see his mother and several women staring at him. "Mother you need to fix my hands please so I can get back to work."

Judy raised a brow, and looked at Santana for a moment who had an expectant look on her face. "Of course, but first, I'd like to introduce you to—"

Santana watched as Charlie flinched inward, he really didn't like meeting people or talking to people or being a normal person, this was probably more painful then his hands. But if Brittany and Quinn were anything to go by, his parents weren't just going to leave this alone which was why she would need to save him. "Judy, I know that you really want Charlie to get married, but I'm not sure I approve of you introducing my boyfriend to other women while I'm right here."

"What?" Judy gasped, Charlie had never mentioned this! In fact, she was sure that they weren't dating. Judging by the shocked look on Charlie's face he hadn't know it either. Which probably meant that Santana was trying to help him.

"We're dating," Santana repeats slowly, turning to look at Charlie. "I know you wanted to keep it quiet for now so we didn't have any pressure, but I'm not letting you go on dates with other women because you don't want to deal with your parents," Santana says shooting him a look, hoping that he understood long enough to play along.

"Uh—right. Mother, we're dating," Charlie said after a moment. "Now if you'll please—my hands?" He holds them up.

Judy turned to look at Brittany who looked just as surprised, "Brittany dear?"

"There's always been attraction there, I mean I know she likes him and we all know that Charlie likes her it's possible," Brittany shrugged.

Santana's cheeks burned at this and she glances over at Antonio who looked confused and sighed, she'd explain it to him later as she grabs Charlie by the cheeks and pulls him down for a deep kiss, pressing her lips against his. He stiffens in shock at this violation before he tries to mimic what she's doing, it's not that great but it's cute at how terrible he is at it. With a hum, she pulls away and looks at Judy. "So, his hands? I mean my kid is right there, we're not going to do more in front of you for proof."

Judy flushes and looks at Charlie who was staring at Santana, his eyes wide. "Right—of course." With a smile, she turns to look at the ladies. "Excuse me ladies, my son needs me." She was going to have a very long talk with the two of them if this was the case, but Charlie's hands were oozing onto the ground and she needed to get them healed before he got an infection.


	51. Chapter 51

"And then the ground began to shake and there was this massive _hand_ that came out of the ground," Antonio recounted, despite the fact both his mother and Charlie had lived through it.

"Are you going to make another story about this for class?" Santana asked as she walked with him holding his hand, trying her hardest not to glance back at Charlie who was currently staring at her. His eyes had been her since Judy had finished healing his hands. They were in thick bandages and he had been told to change them every few hours lest an infection set in.

"Yeah, but I have to add Ms. Quinn too because she was _awesome_ ," Antonio nodded. "Do you think she can show me how to do that? The ice was amazing! I thought it was a silly, and it just made people cold but I didn't know you could do that with it. It was cool, wasn't it?"

"Look at you, making your first pun," Santana says and shakes her head when Antonio flashes her a huge toothy grin. She can't help but reach forward and run a hand through his hair, and kisses his forehead gently. "You shouldn't make it to scary, you don't want to scare your classmates alright?" She was surprised that he simply hadn't asked about what she had done with Charlie in front of him. He didn't seem to care, he was far more interested in asking Quinn a million questions which had surprised her.

"Yeah," Antonio nods, he was going to need colored pencils and markers and lots and lots of paper. He looks over at Mr. Charlie, "Don't worry, I won't let everyone know that you were getting your butt kicked."

This seems to break Charlie out of his trance and he turns his attention to Antonio. A frown crosses his face as he looks at Antonio, "My plan worked, didn't it? I managed to call a thunder titan to save the day."

Santana cleared her throat, "You nearly ripped the place at the seams, that's not exactly saving the day, is it? You're lucky that no one died, including yourself? What were you thinking?"

"I was _thinking_ that I was going to summon a thunder giant, however during the exchange my concentration lapsed for a moment and I may have accidentally called forth a thunder titan. I have no idea why the council found it impressive. A child could do it," Charlie muttered.

"Really?"

"Antonio, _no_. You are not _summoning_ anything. You saw how dangerous it was, and how much destruction it caused and look at what it did to Charlie's hands," Santana pointed out. "Do you want that to happen to you?"

Antonio grimaced and looked at the bloody bandages, they were oozing again. "No, but maybe Mr. Charlie can summon something else that's really cool and not dangerous next time."

Charlie frowned slightly, he wouldn't be summoning anything or doing magic for the next little while. Both his hands were bandaged tightly and they hurt in a way that he wasn't used to. He had assumed that his mother would do some complex spells but apparently the magic of a titan was something that his mother had never encountered before. It would be weeks before he was able to move his hands effectively. "Perhaps," he says with a simple shrug.

Santana shook her head, as long as it was something simple like a puppy she was _fine_ with it. Though she was afraid that Antonio would be horrified when Charlie made it disappear. She sighs when she spots the shop doors and the door to the apartments above the shop. "Alright Antonio it's time that you head upstairs and start getting ready for bed."

"But mom—I need to work on my story, I don't want to forget anything," Antonio insists.

Santana smiles, at least he wasn't hooked to the television like some children his age. "Alright, you have an hour, but once you're finished then it's straight to bed. I need to make sure that he changes his bandages."

Antonio glanced over at Charlie's bandages and shivered, that didn't sound like fun at all. "You're going to talk about kissing Mr. Charlie, aren't you?"

Santana froze for a moment before rolling her eyes, "Even if I am, it's not your business. I did it to help him out because that's what assistant's do. It's my job to bail him out when he gets in trouble."

"Oh, and he was in trouble?"

"Yes, mijo, he was in trouble, and I saved him with a kiss."

"Can I add that to my story?" Antonio asks.

"No!" Both Charlie and Santana say at the same time and turn to look at each other in surprise.

Santana clears her throat and looks at Antonio, "It's top secret, you can't put that in your story or people will find out and Charlie will be in trouble again alright?"

"Right," Antonio nods and looks at Charlie. "Feel better Mr. Charlie."

Santana watches him skip up the stairs and turns to look at Charlie, the smile on her face fading slightly as she studied him. "I know you didn't ask for me to intervene, and you have this weird thing about being touched when you don't want to be. But I made a judgement call, I didn't want your parents using you as some breeding stallion, just because they _really_ want some grandkids. It's _weird_." Charlie nods and tries to brush past her to get to the store. "Charlie, this shouldn't change things between us. I just wanted to help you. Rachel came the other day and made this _huge_ deal about sacrifice or something and Assistants, being partners. So, let's just talk this out like adults."

Charlie waited until Santana let him into his store and headed to his workspace, "I don't know how I feel," he states after a moment. "It's never happened to me before."

"Wait—you're nearly thirty and you've never been kissed before?" Santana's eyes widen. She knew about the sex but the idea that she had somehow stolen his first kiss? It baffled her mind. "Why?"

"Why?" Charlie echoes a frown on his face. "I don't know, I imagine it's because I'm odd, even by magician standards and I struggle with social situations. I'm sure there have been people who have wanted to but I've never shown any interest. I was surprised, and I don't understand why you chose to do it. Now my parents are going to expect me to have sex with you and get you pregnant. I am not good with _adults_ , and I'm not good with children. I can't imagine I'll be any good with babies."

"Bullshit, you're good with Antonio and you're—well you're sort of an ass to me, but you treat me differently than you've treated everyone else. You make an effort and I appreciate the effort that you're making even if I think it's _really_ odd that you pull out cue cards," Santana insists before pausing. He didn't sound like he was beating up on himself, he was just stating what he felt.

"I memorized them," Charlie admits after a moment.

"Of course, you did," Santana groans.

"I was always losing them, or they weren't around when I needed them," Charlie adds even though it's clear that Santana doesn't want him to continue. "Also, you're _wrong_ , I don't mind you touching me. I like holding your hand. You're just _different_."

Santana flushes at the awkwardness of this entire mess, "I—well, I don't mind holding your hand either. And I'll admit that the thought of you on those dates and perhaps actually finding another woman that you were attracted to bothered me. I mean—you wouldn't have time for Antonio and he adores you. I believe he thinks of you as a father-figure, if not his dad. I mean, I know he only sort of tolerates Sebastian, but he loves you."

Charlie nods absentmindedly, and stares at the globe on his workbench for a moment before turning to Santana who was attempting to inch out. "You were jealous."

Santana stops in her tracks, of course he would have picked up on it. "And you can pick up on social cues better than most people think," Santana throws at him. "I'm not lying though, I was worried for Antonio's sake but I didn't know where that would put _me_ in your life. I mean Terri is bored out of her mind because your father has a full life and I don't think I've ever _seen_ your mother's assistant. I like my job, I like working on problems with you and _helping_ you when you let me. I don't want to be pushed aside for your new family. I mean I like our lunches together. I like walking with you to pick up Antonio at school and I'm going to admit that you and Antonio are probably going to send me to an early grave one day, because that's how much I worry about you."

"Oh," Charlie says and frowns slightly.

"Oh?" Santana presses and waits for him to finish gathering his thoughts, pausing for a moment. "Don't use your internal cue cards Charlie, I know that's what you're doing." She can't help but smile when Charlie turns to look at her and shakes his head.

"You're different," Charlie says after a moment. "I thought it was because you had lived as a mundane. Then I thought it was because you had some magic that is different to what I've seen. It's obvious that you're _powerful_ and I don't understand why—" Charlie frowns slightly and shakes his head he needed to _focus._ "You're just different. I actually care if you're happy or not, and I don't want you to leave, like everyone else."

"I don't understand, everyone knows you're annoyed that they left you and moved onto other things—"

"It made things _difficult_ for me, they weren't very good assistants to begin with. Rachel thought she knew everything and Mike well he was more interested in Brittany then helping me. I'm glad they're gone. But I don't know what I'd do without you."

"There'd probably be more fires," Santana points out and smiles when Charlie scoffs at that characterization. "I still find this world _terrifying_ , it's scary and large and there is always something _new_ that I don't understand. I don't think I've spent this much time _reading_ and expanding my knowledge in such a long time. I mean I just saw a bloody Thunder Titan and I learned that you shouldn't touch one."

Charlie looked at his hands. "It was stupid," he agrees.

"It was, but we should probably change those bandages," Santana gestures to his hands and opens the bag that Judy had handed her. "But you're a master now, I mean I thought it was going to be harder than what it was."

"Not everyone is Roz Washington and Sue Sylvester, our mother could have taken us out with a few well-chosen spells. Our Aunt Cassandra is the same, but because we're close to them they had to choose the weaker members of the council. The ones with limited combat experience. We might have played their little game but that doesn't mean that they need to let us into their ranks," Charlie explains wincing as Santana begins to cut away the bandages.

Santana nods, "Well, congratulations. You deserve it, at least I think you do the whole council of magicians confuses the shit out of me," Santana admits.

"Me as well," Charlie agrees studying Santana before grimacing in pain as she began to wrap his hands and arms with the bandages his mother had prepared. She was super close to him and he could feel his stomach flip once more. "Santana?"

Santana glances up at him, and swallows when she notices that he's staring at her intently. "You're going to kiss me, aren't you?"

"Do you not want me too?" Charlie asks pulling his face away a bit.

"Well, for your first kiss you weren't that bad," Santana admits after a moment, but when Charlie doesn't lean forward she smiles and nods, "I wouldn't mind you adding kissing, but not in front of Antonio, not yet."

"Okay," Charlie nods.

"Okay?" Santana prompts as she finishes wrapping up his hands. She flicks her eyes to him and she's surprised to see that he looks slightly embarrassed. "Charlie?"

"Do I just lean in? I don't—" Charlie's eyes widen for a moment in surprise when Santana leans forward and kisses him.


	52. Chapter 52

"Aren't you supposed to be resting? Not hovering around me and staring like some sort of creeper?" Santana asks as Charlie shifts and follows her around. Perhaps entering a new stage of their relationship was a _mistake_. Whatever their relationship was, she wasn't quite sure herself. With a sigh, she puts the package that she'd been wrapping up down and turns to look at him. "Do your bandages need to be changed again?"

"No." Charlie says after a moment and tilts his head again.

"Well, you need to stop being weird. It's making me uncomfortable," Santana informs her, it was like he was studying her.

"Sorry," Charlie said but moved in closer.

" _Charlie_!" Santana says after a moment finally putting what she was doing down and turning to face him. She could hear snickering from where Antonio was busy working on his masterpiece but she ignored it for now. "What are you doing?"

"I think I was _wrong_. That doesn't happen very often and I'm unsure of how to proceed," Charlie admits.

"Well go be wrong out of my personal space," Santana responds flatly before pausing and deciding to clarify. "Nothing is about to blow up or catch on fire, right? More importantly I'm not about to blow up or start burning?"

"No, of course not—probably _not_. I'm not sure however. I don't actually _enjoy_ being wrong," Charlie mused before pulling away and moving towards Antonio.

"You really need to stop adding the word _probably_ in front of things, it makes me nervous," Santana reminds him. "The correct answer to 'will my son accidentally blow off his arm' is not probably not. It's no. Just _no_. You shouldn't add a qualifier, especially not _probably_."

"Understood," Charlie says after a moment as he parks himself in front of Antonio who was coloring and studies him. It takes a moment but Antonio eventually stops and studies Mr. Charlie back.

"What are you doing?" Antonio asks after a moment.

"If he's bothering you, tell him to go away," Santana offers to her son. It was the best advice she could give him at this point.

"I'm thinking," Charlie answers honestly.

"About?" Antonio presses suddenly becoming eager. "Are you thinking about making new magic?"

Charlie shook his head, he'd spent most of last night working on that. "I'm thinking about your mother," he admits after a moment.

Santana turns to stare at him panic setting in. She wasn't ready to share _whatever_ their odd relationship was with their son. She didn't think that Antonio would have a problem with it, if anything he wanted it more than anything. But they weren't _serious_ , at least she didn't think they were serious. It's not like they were having sex. "Charlie—"

"Why?" Antonio presses immediately leaning forward, a confused look on his face. "Is this about mom kissing you?"

"No, _of course not_." Charlie shook his head, slightly scandalized by the question. "I think your mother has magic, or at the very least the pathways aren't as blocked as I believed them to be. At the very least her body isn't producing _magic_ like it's supposed to, and I'm unsure _why_." Charlie explains. "That's not true, it is producing magic but it seems like her ability to see through illusion is taking up whatever she's producing."

"What does that mean?" Antonio asks.

"It means that your mother might be a powerful magician in her _own_ right, but there's something wrong and I can't figure it out," Charlie explains. "You on the other hand have—"

"Charlie," Santana interrupts, she could already see where this was going and she didn't want Antonio to think there was something wrong with him because Sebastian was his father. She didn't want to poison that well. She narrows her eyes slightly when Charlie turns to look at her. He didn't mean anything by it, that she understood.

If Charlie understood where the hostility was coming from he didn't seem to acknowledge it, as he turned back to Antonio. "I won't know what your potential is until your body is ready to handle magic. I imagine you'll be powerful even with the—"

" _Charlie_." Santana repeats again, ignoring the look her son shoots her.

Charlie shakes his head, "As I was saying, whatever happened to your mother, doesn't seem to be affecting you from what I can tell. It's _there_ , I can feel it, faintly, but I can sense that you have magic."

"Can you fix it?" Antonio asks. "So, my mom can do magic too?"

"No. I can't." Charlie admits a frown on his face as he leaned forward stretching. "I imagine that I know _someone_ that could, or at least point me in the right direction but—that's all up to your mother."

Antonio immediately turns on his mother, he hadn't expected that an excited grin on his face as he got up to run to his mom. "We could learn magic _together_. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Cool, isn't the word I'd use for it," Santana frowns slightly. Did she _even_ want to be a magician? She _enjoyed_ her life right now? It wasn't as if there were hundreds of jobs for Magicians. "If I were to become a magician who would take care of Charlie?"

Antonio blinked and turned to look at Charlie for a moment, before nodding his head. "You're right, you need to be his assistant or he'll blow up the store or something."

"I'm sitting right here," Charlie reminds them.

Santana rolled her eyes, she was really just Charlie's over glorified babysitter, at least that's what it felt like most days. "You can't miss whatever you haven't experienced or had."

"No, but that doesn't mean you should be content with what you have either. Always move forward, always strive to be _better_ than you were the day before," Charlie points out before standing up. "I'd have to _find_ her first. She may have cursed me."

Santana groaned at Charlie who was rubbing his bandaged hands against the counter probably to scratch an itch. "Charlie, didn't we have a conversation about inviting people who _hate_ you into this establishment."

"Tina doesn't _hate_ me. She hates Brittany, and apparently, it's _my_ fault for introducing them. Like I can bar Brittany from my shop. She's probably fine, I think she's married to Artie—who hates me," Charlie mused before waving his hands. "It was hardly my fault. When I say stay back, it's implied that you should stay as far away as possible."

"I thought you said that Magician's didn't _do_ curses," Antonio points out.

"They don't the magic for a curse is different than the magic that I use, that being said Tina isn't a magician. She's a witch. Not like a mundane witch, but an actual witch. Potions and brews, you know _that_ kind of thing. She can do magic that I can't." Charlie admits crinkling his nose. Dealing with a witch was always going to be tricky. Bargains needed to be made, pacts were done. He would need to inform others that he was dealing with a witch. It was all very complicated.

Santana narrowed her eyes slightly, "Charlie, I can see how beaten up your hands are. You don't need to put your life on the line for me every single time you want to do something magical. I don't _have_ magic. Or at least it's not working properly. If this is dangerous I want you to forget about it. Just like Antonio's going to forget that witches exist."

"But—" Antonio begins he wanted to meet the witch.

"I wasn't going to bring him. Witches always want the first-born son or something for their potions, they can't manipulate magic like we can. They can only drain it from other sources," Charlie admits. "My aunt Cassandra might know someone reputable, but she really doesn't like me."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing, she doesn't like that my mother married my father. It's this huge thing," Charlie shook his head. "Not everyone hates me because of something _I did_."

"So, you never caused something to explode on a fancy rug or something?"

"Oh, I did set fire to all her clothes once—" Charlie begins. "But I was five and it was an accident."

Santana groans, and grabs the bottles of dwarven ale for Russell, and shakes her head. " _Knew it_." She mumbles under her breath before wrapping them up. "I'm going to make a run in about an hour so now is a good time as any to change your bandages."

Antonio crinkled his nose, "Do I have to see my dad?" he asks.

"Yes. He wants to show you where he works. Don't worry you'll also see Russell and he probably will do some magic tricks for you. So, go get ready Antonio, wear something nice alright?" Antonio grumbles and immediately heads upstairs to get changed. It takes a moment before Santana turns to Charlie. "Is there anything you need me to tell your father?"

"No, if he needs something he'll show up uninvited like always. If he starts to pressure you about kids, tell him you'll cut him off from the ale. Don't worry about the bandages, I'm off to see my mother anyway. She needs to fix my hands so I can start doing research once more." Charlie says leaning in to press his lips against Santana's, before pulling away quickly. "Sorry—I'm supposed to ask for permission."

Santana snorts and pulls him towards her, kissing him gently. "I'm serious Charlie no more death defying stunts that get you injured."

"I'll try," Charlie promises before pulling away when he hears Antonio returning. He clears his throat and heads toward the door before staring at it. "Santana?"

Santana rolls her eyes, and moves to open the door for him. "Please tell your mom to hurry on getting your arms fixed."

"That's the plan."


	53. Chapter 53

"There she is the _future_ Mrs. Fabray," Russell announced grinning from ear to ear as he pulled away from Sebastian and held his arms open, ready to pull Santana into a hug.

Santana cringes, Charlie had been right this had been a _shitty_ idea, perhaps one of her worst. Especially since Sebastian was staring at her looking absolutely hurt and possibly scandalized. She hadn't given much thought to how this would affect his relationship with Antonio, especially given how much Antonio adored Charlie. "Future is being generous, it's _new_. This whole thing is _new_ , but no pressure or anything." Santana turns to Antonio who was grinning from ear to ear and nudges him. "Say hello to your father."

"Hi Sebastian," Antonio says as he pulls away from his mother and heads to Mr. Fabray, who immediately pulled him in for a hug. "Does that mean you're going to be my grandpa?"

"Call me Gramps—no wait, Pop-Pop—that seems a bit childish for a young man such as yourself—we'll brainstorm," Russell informs him.

Yes, this had definitely been a mistake, she had no idea how excited they would be in fact she was certain that _they_ were already planning a wedding, which meant she needed to put a stop to this before she ended up in a wedding dress with Charlie beside her. "Antonio how about you tell your father about the story you're writing, I need to give Mr. Fabray his package and have a conversation with him alright?"

"But mom—"

Santana narrowed her eyes slightly, ending that conversation before nodding at Sebastian. "He looks lonely."

"I _do not_!" Sebastian snaps at her.

Antonio turns to look at his father, he did sort of look lonely and he nods at his mom and walks over to him. "You should have seen what Mr. Charlie did! It was _amazing_ , I'm writing a story about it," Antonio informs him before noticing that he had a bunch of paper and pens on his desk. "I'll draw you a picture."

Sebastian grimaced but nodded, the _last_ thing he wanted to do was talk about this Charlie fellow. He didn't even _like_ girls anymore, he wasn't even sure if he had ever liked girls. But he felt uncomfortable with how close his son was to another man. "Sure, why don't you draw me a picture, I can keep it up on desk." He gets up so Antonio can have a seat and shifts so he's a bit closer to the door so he can maybe hear the conversation between Santana and his boss.

"Can I use your highlighters?"

"Sure." Sebastian nods as he tilts his head so he can get a better look. It was just enough to watch Mr. Fabray take a package from Santana and attempt to hug her. "So, what does your mom always bring for Mr. Fabray?"

"Dwarven Ale, mom said that I couldn't take a sip. Mr. Charlie says it tastes like dirt, but Mr. Fabray loves it so Mr. Charlie always picks them up for him even though Mrs. Fabray told him that Mr. Fabray isn't allowed having it anymore."

"Oh? Well, do you know where I can get it?"

"From Mr. Charlie's shop," Antonio said frowning at how slow his father was. "I don't know where he gets it but he has a lot of bottles in his backroom. I saw it, mom says it's really popular."

Sebastian nodded, maybe he could make a stop later and pick up some for Russell, at this point he'd do anything to get on his good side.

~O~

"So when can we expect more grandchildren?" Russell asked as he ushered Santana into a seat.

Santana grimaced, if she told him the truth she knew she'd break his heart. "You _probably_ shouldn't," Santana said after a moment before realizing why Charlie used that caveat all the time. "Charlie doesn't really want children, he says this often enough. I already have a son, and with my history—Antonio is enough. I don't think I could do it again."

Russell's smile faded slightly, "Well that won't do at all. I know that you're attempting to help my son, but he doesn't always know what he wants and what's good for him."

She could hear the tense note in his voice and sighs, "You do know that he's still a virgin, because he believes that sex will automatically lead to children. So, he chooses not to have sex because he doesn't want to have children. I pointed out that all your other children are having sex and they haven't popped out babies but he's insistent. I _respect_ that. I respect his odd boundaries, I respect the fact that he doesn't want children and he doesn't want to have sex. You need to respect that as well."

Russell studied Santana carefully for a moment, "You aren't doing him any favors, and while I know it's early in the relationship to be thinking about having other children, it's something that you should think about. My son has always been _odd_ , he's always marched to the imaginary drumbeat in his head even when he was a child, Judy insisted that he was just _special_. I'm not going to pretend that I didn't worry that he wouldn't find _someone_ who he wanted to share a life with. I didn't think he'd find someone like you. Or have a family of his own, so if I'm pushing hard for it. It is only because we never thought it was possible for him. Now that we see it is, we want that for him. His sisters, they will be fine, but you can't help wondering about our son. His hands, his self-destruction."

"I just don't treat him like he's special and I don't treat him differently than I would treat anyone else. If he pisses me off, I let him know, if he does something incredibly dangerous then I tell him off. I worry over him like I worry over Antonio and I think he appreciates the fact that I treat him like everyone else. I mean not exactly like everyone else, our relationship is new to him and he's trying to do everything the right way. Rachel informed him that he couldn't just kiss me, so he tries to ask beforehand. He's going at his own pace and you rushing him, anyone rushing him will only cause him to withdraw," Santana points out. "Also, he's not self-destructive. He just comes up with idiotic ways to get things done and goes about doing them. Case in point the stupid fight he got into, he didn't set out to destroy his hands. He set out to recharge himself, and it just happened. We've talked about it. We'll probably continue to talk about it until he understands that he can't keep doing it."

Russell sighs and glances out through the window to watch Antonio drawing, "Good, his mother can't keep up with all his injuries anymore and after this little stunt. Thank you though, for taking care of my son. I know he can be— _difficult_ at times."

"Tell me about it, but I came to actually ask about witches. Charlie mentioned—"

"Oh, for fucks sake, that boy is going to get himself _killed_. He has no concept of _danger_ ," Russell groaned putting his hand in his faces.

"That bad?" Santana asked, she was getting a sinking feeling.

"It wouldn't be nearly that bad if most of the witches in the area didn't _hate_ him, he refuses to do business with them. He has the ingredients, but he refuses to do business with them. They believe that he's being discriminatory, which he openly admits he is. Which, of course, made the problem worse. Except I don't think he _realizes_ that he's offended the entire coven and very few will do business with him, and those that will either don't care or want to curse him."

"He mentioned his aunt Cassandra—"

Russell held his hands up, "I know you said that I shouldn't rush him, but if you could work on his understanding of what danger is then that would be excellent. Cassandra probably won't murder him but I can't imagine she'll help him either. Why is _he_ looking for a witch to deal with? Charlie avoids them like the plague as he should."

Santana shrugs, "I think it has to do with me—something about my magic and how his initial assessment was wrong. So, he wanted to get pointed in the right direction, I told him I was perfectly fine but he doesn't listen to me all the time."

Russell sighed and opened his top drawer and pulled out a thick medium sized-book with heavy runes on it and licked his finger before flicking through it quickly finally finding the page that he wanted and grabbed one of his business cards and scrawled the information on it on the back. "Tell him to go to her, we're in the same business and she's a powerful witch in her own right and she _probably_ doesn't actually care about Charlie enough to curse him. I suggest that you go with him to make sure he doesn't say anything offensive or demeaning."

Santana nods and takes the card gently, "Thank you, if we do decide to have children in the distant future you'll be first person I tell," Santana promises and slips the name into her purse. Now she just needed to talk to Charlie about his odd hang-ups and maybe figure out what exactly they were. He was getting better at the whole kissing thing, which was nice, and he did seem to take note of what she liked and didn't like.

~O~

"A picnic, just the two of you. It shows that you care and that it's romantic, especially if you take the time to show her it's a magical night."

Charlie flicked his hazel eyes to his mother for a moment before wincing and looking back at his hands, he could move them but it hurt tremendously and he no longer had a decent grip, but at least it _looked_ better than it had. "Okay," he says finally. "Can we focus on fixing my hands?"

Judy frowned, she doubted that he was _actually_ listening to her. "I'm surprised that the damage is mostly superficial, you did something didn't you?"

Charlie shrugged and winced at the pain that shot through both of his hands. "I used a protection spell, it was quick and given how low on magic I was, it wasn't my _best_ work. It could have been far worse," Charlie admits after a moment as his mother begins to bandage his hands up once more.

Judy shook her head, she needed to focus on the important things and that was making sure Charlie's relationship with Santana went off smoothly. "Charlie. It is important that you take this seriously. She's a single mother and that means that there will be challenges. It doesn't matter if Antonio loves you now, his father is in the picture and you have to allow him to be the main force in his life. And given what Santana has been through, I imagine there are some issues that haven't been completely worked out."

"Okay."

"Charlie—"

"I don't know what you want me to say," Charlie admits after a moment. "There isn't a _card_ for this and I'm trying my best, but there are all these rules that you say that I have to do but Santana just says to be myself and I don't know what everyone wants from me."

"Okay, how do you _feel_ when you're around Santana."

"I don't _know_. I know I like to be near her, I know I like to hold her hand and hug her and kissing is _interesting_." Charlie admits.

"Interesting?"

Charlie glances away for a moment. "I like doing it with Santana. I like doing everything with Santana. I like spending time with Antonio and teaching him magic, it feels—I don't know how it feels but I like doing it and I think I'd _hate it_ if she left. I believe I am attached to her. So I work really hard to make sure she doesn't leave. That they don't leave. If I do this picnic thing will that make her stay?"

Judy opened her mouth and then closed it, debating on what to say. "Well it won't make her stay. Every now and again, though these days it's getting farther and farther apart, your father does something that makes me feel special. Something that shows he's been listening to what I have to say or he takes me out to go dancing and it makes me feel special. I know your father is a _terrible_ dancer and he doesn't like to do it, but he does it for me. Do you understand? It doesn't have to be an everyday thing. But something to make sure Santana feels appreciated."

"Oh."

Judy reaches forward and hugs him tightly, ignoring how he tries to squirm away. "Just be yourself Charlie and everything will turn out for the best."

Charlie nods and immediately gathers himself when his mother lets him go, "I should go back, they should be back by now and I told Antonio we could continue with his lessons once I got my hands healed," with that he pulls away making sure that he gives her plenty of space.


	54. Chapter 54

"Would you like to go on a picnic?"

It's an odd sentence, because it's coming from Charlie, and it causes Santana to stare at him in a confused manner. "Did Rachel give you cue cards again?"

"No," Charlie answers honestly.

"Is Miss Brittany mind-controlling you?" Antonio asks after a moment upon seeing the confusion on his mother's face.

"No," Charlie frowns looking at him.

"Picnics are boring. You just sit outside and _eat_ ," Antonio said after a moment and shrugged his shoulders. "And then ants try and steal your food."

"Oh," Charlie scratches his cheek and winces slightly before picking at the bandages on his hand. He turns to Santana and frowns. "That does sound boring."

It takes her a moment to realize that Charlie's asking her out on a date, "Antonio is seven, what does he know?" Santana asks trying to make him feel better. It sounded _normal_ , and given her life lately she could do with something _normal, boring_ and _safe_.

"A lot!" Antonio insists dropping the coin so he could glare at his mom. "My teacher says I'm _very_ smart."

Santana smiles at him and moves so she can pull him into a hug. "I know you are, but I don't think you understand what Charlie is attempting to do."

"What's he trying to do?" Antonio asks. "Are you taking _us_ somewhere cool like Undertown? Or—or where the giants live?"

"Giants?" Charlie asks crinkling his nose.

"Yeah, if there are dwarves there _have_ to be giants, right?"

"There are some _half-giants_ around but we believe that the full giants died out _ages_ ago," Charlie said.

"Oh," Antonio frowned. That was disappointing. "Well that doesn't mean you can't take us to Undertown. Or somewhere we've never been before—I know _Atlantis_!"

Charlie stared at Antonio for a moment before looking up at Santana, "I was thinking the—park."

"But Atlantis is cooler," Antonio insists.

"Except Atlanteans _hate_ humans, and they have no problem eating us." Charlie points out watching as Antonio's eyes widened.

"Really? That's so _cool_!"

Santana sighed, "No, it's really not," Santana says after a moment. "That means that they don't like you because you're human, and they won't mind chomping on your little body. They're dangerous and even if they weren't Atlantis is too far away, and you can't breathe underwater."

"Mr. Charlie can give us gills," Antonio insists.

"Uh—I'm not very good at transformation magic remember?" Charlie reminds him.

"But it's not like you're turning us into fish, it's just a pair of gills."

"That help you breathe underwater, and if Charlie doesn't get them right—" Santana trails off and watches as Antonio's eyes widen.

"It's not just the gills, you also have to be wary of the bends, which can kill you, also I've never been to Atlantis. I'm lightning, it's underwater. Think about it," Charlie says frowning.

Antonio huffed, "I guess we can go on a picnic then," he says after a moment before dropping the coin, he couldn't manage to bring a shield up.

Charlie studies Antonio for a moment before looking at Santana, who flashes him an amused smile. "Or you can go bother Quinn and see what her job is, and ask her a million questions about magic like you wanted to, and me and Charlie can go on a picnic."

"Really?"

Charlie raised a brow, "I mean I guess you can see what Quinn does," it wasn't as if Quinn would take him out to hunt rogue magicians or anything particularly dangerous, at least he _hoped_ not. He tilts his head, "We should go now."

Santana tilted her head slightly, "Shouldn't we _ask_ Quinn if it's okay? I mean we still have to prepare the food for the picnic."

Charlie paused for a moment and then shrugged, as if he hadn't thought about it. "Quinn might say no, we shouldn't give her that chance. What do you _eat_ on a picnic?"

"Sandwiches? Cookies? Um juice boxes?" Santana shrugs, she wasn't quite sure herself. "I mean we can pick that up at the deli, we just need a picnic basket and a large blanket to sit on so we don't get grass stains on our pants."

Charlie frowned slightly, and headed into his little workshop area for a moment and came out with a large blanket and a large cooler. "Will this do?"

"Why do you have a large cooler in there? Where were you even keeping it?"

"Occasionally I have to bring back live specimens for Brittany, I found that this holds up well," Charlie explains. "It's clean," he adds after a moment.

Santana raised a brow and went to check anyway, opening the cooler. Charlie's definition of clean and _her_ definition of clean were completely different. "What was the last thing you kept in it?"

"Basilisk eggs," Charlie reminded her.

Santana winced and takes the cooler from him anyway. "I'll give it a good wash, just to be safe. Does Antonio need to dress up, we are going to Quinn's place of work after all—never mind, Antonio go put on your _nice_ clothes." She watches as Antonio runs off to get dressed.

"It's Quinn," Charlie reminded her.

"Yes, I know she's your twin sister, and you don't actually care, but I do. We're basically surprising Quinn and asking her for free babysitting. The least we could do is make sure that Antonio looks _good_ , it is her place of business."

Charlie sighs but nods, "Is the park okay?" He asks after a moment. "I could always take you somewhere magical."

Santana flashes him a small smile as she heads to the door and flips the sign over, "It's fine. It's a nice day outside and I could get some reading done. I know you love the fantastic, but sometimes the mundane is just as fun." She's quiet for a moment and studies him, noting his nervousness as he plays with his bandages. "You're taking me out on a date, aren't you?"

"Yes. I think—I want to be your _boyfriend_. I want you to stay, I want you and Antonio to stay with me," Charlie admits after a moment. "I don't know how to be a boyfriend, but I think I want to be a good one. For you. Is that okay? I know you were unsure about how it would affect our working relationship but I don't think it will change. I hope it doesn't change."

He was putting it all on the table, for _her_ , and she had seen him summon a thunder titan and look absolutely confident while doing it. It was sweet and odd, "It better not. I like working in this shop with you, I like being your assistant—your partner. That's what we need to be if we do this, alright partners? No more secrets, no more doing dangerous stunts to impress me or Antonio, if you think I don't know something, then please tell me or explain it to me." Santana says after a moment.

Charlie nods and smiles, " _Partners_ , I like that."

"I thought you might, and since we're partners now, you can't go wandering off and meeting witches. You're not very popular with them, and the last thing I need is for you to be cursed. What is your problem with witches anyway?"

"I don't have a problem with witches."

"You won't sell to them."

"I don't sell to everyone. I generally have an idea what people use certain products for. There are only so many spells that most people know, and I can generally predict what they need. I don't know or understand witch magic, which means that I can't fix it if they make a mistake, I also don't want to be responsible for selling materials for curse-work. I also don't sell to people who do hoodoo, or any other types of magic that I can't understand." Charlie shrugged.

Santana blinks, that did actually sound like Charlie. "Well did you _mention_ that to them? Because they think you hate witches."

"No. They didn't ask."

"Have you tried to _learn_? Well witchcraft?"

"I don't have time," Charlie admits.

Santana closes her eyes, "Well your father gave me the name of a witch who _probably_ doesn't hate you. So, you and I will go there together and I will do the talking."

Charlie nods, that was probably for the best. "Partners," he said after a moment.

"What about partners?" Antonio asks as he finally enters the store again in a ruffled button up shirt and dark jeans.

"Antonio! What happened to your shirt? I know I ironed it? Did you just throw it in your closet again?"

Antonio grins and shifts his feet nervously, "Maybe?"

Charlie eyed the clothing for a moment before snapping his fingers, ignoring the sharp pain as Antonio's clothes became crisp.

" _Cool_ —can you clean my room too?" Charlie narrowed his eyes at him and Antonio laughed. "Kidding, come on I want to see where Miss Quinn works."

"It's just Quinn," Charlie said before shrugging.

"Hold on, hold on, I still need to wash this container." Santana says, shaking her head as she grabs the cooler and heads upstairs to give it a good rinse. She also needed to grab a book to read, something cheesy and romantic. It had been a while.

~O~

"Is being a shopkeeper what you wanted to do with your life when you were growing up?"

Charlie glances down at Santana who was currently leaning against him as she read a book that had a half naked man on the cover. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. He plays with the straw in his drink for a moment before shrugging. "I'm not just a shopkeeper," he reminds her.

"Right, you're also a mercenary," Santana says after a moment. "Is that what you wanted?"

"Yes and no," Charlie says after a moment. "I didn't want to be a mercenary but I did want to travel and learn different magics. I wanted to write my own book—create my own magic, and then be a librarian," Charlie admits. "I started to travel soon after my apprenticeship with Roz ended. My father sent me on a trip to Tibet, and I thought that I was going to learn some ancient type of magic. I was excited—except he tricked me into getting involved in some magical quarrel between two warring magical religious factions. I dealt with the problem and it became this _thing_. I no longer had a choice. The council would come and ask me to get involved. I got stuck doing this. My father 'attempted' to make it up to me by giving me the shop and telling me I could tinker."

"I mean I _like_ your father, but he sounds like an _ass_." Santana admits. She had no idea. "So, you mean—"

"Ever since my 'adventures' in Undertown, and creating those light sources, it has become one plan after another. The council sends me contracts and they _expect_ me to take them, or they just order me to do it for them. I like my shop, I like working on magic, that's what I want to do. If I join the council then perhaps they'll finally leave me alone. My father will finally get what he wants which is a controllable voice on the council since they _won't_ take him and my mother is officially retired or something."

"I take it back; your father is an _ass_. No more dwarven ale for him," Santana said after a moment shaking her head. She had _liked_ Russell and Judy but their recent behavior and Charlie's words put them in a new light. "Is that why you can't stand your family?"

"I'm not good with people so I avoid them. My family, they're _people_."

"I'm people," Santana reminds him.

"You're different," Charlie admits. "So is Antonio, I don't mind staying with you. I don't mind being around you. You don't constantly remind me that I'm different." He frowns slightly at the words and then remembers what the cue cards had said about conversation. "You didn't want to be an assistant, did you?"

Santana snorted, "When you're sixteen and pregnant and get kicked out by your parents. You don't have much options. I didn't have a support system so I dropped out and used all the money I had to get away from them. To support me and Antonio. I waited tables, I did some online coursework to get my GED, I did everything I could but you _need_ money to get ahead. I would read the newspaper and go online every day and apply to _everything_ that I thought I could do, but no one wanted to take a chance on me. I was about to just _accept_ that I'd never be able to give Antonio the life he _deserved_ when I saw your ad in the paper. I mean I thought it was some joke at first, but the money you were offering—I thought it was a sex thing at first." Charlie crinkles his nose at that and Santana can't help but laugh. "But I thought to myself what if it was true, what if you were some rich guy who just needed a damn assistant? You know to pick up your dry-cleaning and get you coffee and arrange your schedule. Maybe I could use that to further my career or start a career. Then I met you and the rest? Well you know the rest of the story."

"Do you _want_ to go back to the mundane world?" Charlie asks after a moment.

"Sometimes, when you start a fire and just stare at it like it's going to put itself out. I wanted to be like a lawyer, or a financial advisor or _something_. I wanted to be important when I was growing up. That changed when I had Antonio, I needed to survive. I mean I'd _like_ to get a university degree just to say that I _did_ it. But you need me as an assistant, I _like_ being your assistant. It's something _new_. Every day," Santana admits. "Well not the fires, that's getting old."

Charlie's quiet for a moment, "You can, you know. You can get your university degree if you want,"

Santana blinks and turns to him, "The store wouldn't be _standing_ if I did that," it's when Charlie's brow furrows Santana sighs. "I can take some online classes maybe, get my degree that way. I can still be around and study and all that and be in the store with you and still parent Antonio. I mean I've thought about it, but you're really _weird_ about me possibly leaving you."

"We're partners," Charlie reminded her. "I just don't want you to leave. I think I'd care more about that then if you wanted to better yourself. I can get another assistant— _eventually_ , I can't get another you."

Santana reaches up to touch his chin and stroke it gently, it was touching. He was touching and she knew he wasn't meaning to be. "Well, lets enjoy the time we have together alright? I hope I'm here for a long time—" She's about to sit up and lean into kiss him when her cellphone goes off and she groans looking at the name on the phone. A frown crosses her face as she sits up, "Quinn?"

Charlie makes a face at this and leans back against the tree. Quinn always ruined _everything_ as far as he was concerned. He's about to close his eyes when Santana practically jumps up and away from him causing him to sit up and watch as panic crosses her features. Something had _happened_. He quickly begins to put his things in the cooler so that they could go when Santana ends the phone call. "What—"

"We need to go now," Santana insists.

"What happened? Is Antonio alright?"

"His _magic_ came in, I thought you said it was supposed to happen at _puberty_!"

Charlie stopped what he was doing, "It is supposed to happen then, that's when it happens for most everyone else." Antonio wasn't _a pureblood_ , and he hadn't for the most part grown up near magic. Though the past year might have jumpstarted the process. He had begun to be aware of the magic growing within him, but he hadn't expected this.

"Charlie, _come on_. We need to go," Santana said tugging on his arm.

"Right. Right," Charlie nods. He was going to need to start working on the wards to protect Antonio. All of this was happening to fast. He thought he still had time. He throws his things into the cooler and grabs the blanket and takes off after Santana.


	55. Chapter 55

**AN: Once more I'm doing a call for sounding boards, that will help keep me on track and help me develop ideas. As I'm going to be starting a new fic (It's already started) I need all the help I can get to keep the story as tight as possible and help with character development. Also there are going to be new stories incoming around May so look for that. So once more, looking for anyone who wants to help me develop stories. Drop me a PM**

* * *

Quinn jumped, startled as Santana practically bursts into her office, the door slamming against the wall. " _Seriously_?" She asks her voice dripping in annoyance.

"Mom! Mom! Mom! Look at what I can do! Where's Mr. Charlie he has to see it too," Antonio said from where he was currently sitting holding a piece of paper and doodling.

Santana narrows her eyes and looks around; Quinn's office didn't have holes in and it didn't smell like a fire had broken out. "You said his magic came in! He's seven he's not supposed to have magic," Santana hisses at Quinn. She immediately turns to her son and begins to check him over.

"He's _fine_ , it just caught me by surprise is all, where's my brother?"

"Here, I'm here," Charlie said as he enters the room and frowns slightly studying Antonio. "You scared her," he says after a moment looking at Quinn.

"That's because she's only seen your attempts at doing magic," Quinn said with a shrug. "With all the fires and explosions, you cause, I can see why she'd be afraid but wait till you see what he can do. I don't think I would have noticed it if I hadn't been looking _straight_ at it," Quinn said motioning to the picture that Antonio was still drawing.

Charlie narrowed his eyes slightly and turned to the paper, Antonio is sticking out his tongue and is currently focused on the piece of paper. It takes him a second before he notices that one of the marks begins to move as Antonio continues to draw. "Santana look at the paper," he says.

Santana tears her eyes off checking her son for any holes and studies the page that Antonio is drawing on and her eyes widen, "Antonio are you doing that?" She asks as the pictures begin to move on the page.

"Yeah! Isn't it cool. It's cool right Mr. Charlie?" Antonio looks at him.

Santana turns to look at Charlie studying him, "What type of magic is it?"

"Illusion."

"Physical."

Quinn and Charlie turn to each other and frown, "It's _illusion_."

"It's _physical_ ," Charlie stresses narrowing his eyes at Quinn, she obviously had no idea how rare Antonio was. He turns his attention to Antonio who is still waiting for his praise and he bends down so he's at eye-level. "Congratulations Antonio, you're officially a magician, not a full-fledged one, but you're a _magician_. It is very cool."

Antonio grinned and looked at his mom, "I'm a _magician_!" He's practically vibrating with excitement. "Mom!"

"I heard," Santana says studying the picture as the pictures start to slow before becoming still. She wasn't ready for this, she had assumed that she had time, as did Charlie. She wasn't sure what she was going to do now. "That's amazing Antonio, you're amazing," she says kissing his forehead and looking at Charlie. "Does this mean he has to leave his school?"

Quinn studied Antonio and then looked at the pictures for a moment, "You have two options, you can remove him from his school and stick him with other magician's who are his age. Or you can allow someone in the office to bind his abilities so he doesn't accidentally reveal his abilities to the mundane's. Though he won't have to bind his abilities if he can show that he has control by the end of the summer."

"Binding?" Antonio asks crinkling his nose. "You mean I won't be able to do magic?"

Quinn frowned slightly, this was _mostly_ Charlie's fault. Her brother had given him unrealistic expectations about magic. She was already aware he had broken their laws, flaunting them. Antonio couldn't follow in her brother's footsteps. He was a child, which meant that she needed to play this carefully. "Antonio, I know that you look up to my brother. He's a _decent_ magician, but my brother doesn't follow our rules. You're not allowed to reveal your magic to your friends. You're not allowed to show mundanes or you'll get into serious trouble."

"But—" Antonio frowned and his bottom lip quivered. He had just gotten his magic, he didn't want to lose this new ability. It meant that Mr. Charlie would finally be able to teach him proper magic. "I want to do magic."

Santana frowned, there were parts of her that still felt uncomfortable with magic, but Antonio's magic seemed to be harmless. He'd always loved drawing and this made _sense_. She had envisioned him with something destructive like Charlie's abilities, but Antonio wasn't Charlie. "You are _not_ binding his abilities. He's doing something _beautiful_ , and I am not going to let you just take it away from him."

Quinn sighed and rubbed her brow and looks at her brother who had taken the picture from Antonio and was currently studying it, probably trying to figure out what his discipline was. "We're not taking his abilities away, he'll still be a magician, we're just shelving it for now until he can learn control, and until his body is ready. He's excited now and seems full of energy, but once the moment passes he'll pass out. You're going to freak out, but he'll be _fine_."

Charlie fiddled with the paper in his hands causing Santana to turn to him, "Feel free to say something."

Charlie glances up at Santana and then looks at Antonio, suddenly realizing that everyone is looking at him. "The more he uses his magic now, the stronger he'll become in the future," Charlie points out after a moment.

"That's not helping the problem at hand, he's _seven_ Charlie. You're asking him to grow up _quickly_ , binding his abilities gives him the option of having a _normal_ childhood, which is what I thought you wanted," Quinn turns to Santana.

"I do but he's _not_ normal, he's not a mundane. I don't want him to hide in a closet," Santana insists with a frown. Her son was _special_ , actually special. He needed guidance he needed to learn to be responsible.

Charlie kneels in front of Antonio who meets his gaze, "Magic isn't a toy Antonio, you know that right?"

"Yeah," Antonio nods.

"You know that if you don't get control of your magic soon, you might accidentally hurt one of your friends. Or you might hurt someone. Especially if you get angry at someone," Charlie reminds him. "You can't lash out anyone, you can't _think_ about hurting someone because you just might, and you won't like how it makes you feel."

"But I want to be able to do magic like you do."

Charlie grimaces and begins to unwrap the bandages on his hands so he can show Antonio who immediately grimaces at his hands. "You don't want to do magic like me. You want to do the magic that makes you _happy_ , you want to create and make people happy, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then that's the type of magic that I'll teach you. We'll do our best to get you to a point where you can control your magic. It's going to take a _lot_ of work and effort, and when you go back to school well by that time my hands should be healed and I can create something that will keep your magic under control. I don't think a binding is necessary," Charlie says finally. "Not to stop you from using your magic, for safety for yourself and just in case. Once you get back home, you'll be allowed to practice your magic freely. Is that fair?"

Antonio nods, "Yeah," he said rubbing his eyes.

Charlie glanced up at Santana to make sure she agreed with his plan. "That _works_ for me. Binding his abilities sounds like it should be a last case scenario," Santana agreed, narrowing her eyes at Quinn slightly.

Quinn rolled her eyes, and turns to her brother, "Can you actually create something?"

"It's just about taking an existing binding spell and tweaking it, it's really not that difficult. I was thinking about creating it for when Antonio's magic came in, this is just—far sooner than I thought it would be," Charlie shrugged.

Santana nods and pauses suddenly remembering Sebastian's existence. "I know it's against your rules but what about Antonio's father?"

Charlie blinked, "Who?"

Santana rolled her eyes, and turned to Quinn. "They're forging a relationship. He's also Antonio's father, and he takes care of Antonio sometimes. He needs to know. Or at the very least he _should_ know."

"Why?" Charlie asked with a frown.

Quinn ignored her brother, "There's plenty of paperwork that you'll need to fill out. Not only that, if he mentions it to anyone his mind will have to be wiped and it's _not_ something that I'd recommend. So, you should only go through with it if you _trust him_. Do you trust him?"

"He's a mundane," Charlie reminded his sister.

"I don't know, he's _trying_ , but I thought we had time," Santana admits. She's about to say something else when Antonio suddenly slumps down in his seat and pitches forward. Almost immediately she reaches for him but Charlie's faster catching him and lifting him up. "Antonio?"

"He's okay, he's okay, just asleep." Charlie says immediately reaching for Santana to calm her down. "Using all that magic must have drained him of his energy, he'll be okay after a night's rest and then a massive amount of food."

Santana moves to check on Antonio only to see a bit of drool pooling from his mouth and onto Charlie's shoulder. She swallows the panic that had set in her heart, and rubs his head. "You're sure this is normal?"

"It is," both Quinn and Charlie say at the same time.

Santana nods, and relaxing just a bit. "Okay, I'll think about it, but right now I think we need to get Antonio home and in bed."


	56. Chapter 56

Santana flipped through the various pamphlets that she'd been given, as she chewed nervously on a pencil. They didn't have _websites_ , and she'd spent the past forty minutes trying to write out the pros and cons of each school. There was one that was about an hour away from where they currently lived. They did have a dormitory but she wasn't sending her son to boarding school. She would need to talk to Charlie about maybe finding a place closer to the school.

She pauses and looks up, she hadn't seen Charlie since he had put Antonio to bed which meant he was probably cooking up something magical in his room. She frowns for a moment and decides to head over before there was an explosion, _or something_. She grabs her notebook and pencil and quickly checks on Antonio noting how he was sprawled out a copious amount of drool dripping down his face. Spot looks up at her from where she was currently curled up on Antonio's stomach before promptly ignoring her. With a roll of her eyes she heads across the hall pushing the door open and knocks over a stack of books which crash to the ground. " _Shit_." She looks into the room and pauses when Charlie just flips the page of the book he's reading as if he hadn't noticed. "Charlie?"

It's enough to pull him from his thoughts and he turns to look at her and smiles, shifting a bit so she could sit down. When Santana does he grins at her brightly. "He's a magician."

Santana bites her lip studying him, he sounded like a pleased father. He _probably_ wasn't even sure why he was so thrilled with this. But she would leave it alone for now. "What are you up to?" She asks leaning into him so she can take a peek at what he's reading.

Charlie tilts the book so that Santana can see what he's reading. "Beginner Illusion magic, it's an _excellent_ book. My father is stopping by to figure out what Antonio's discipline is. I believe that it's _Physical_ magic, though it could be illusion, which isn't one of things I'm strong at. If I put the time and effort into it so I can teach Antonio how to use his magic properly and control it." He hummed and flipped a page. "What are you up to?"

"Looking at all these magic schools. I was thinking of sending him to the school that's nearby. I was thinking of sending him off to the Klemelts Institute but I mean it's an _hour_ away and I don't think I want to make that commute every morning. Especially with traffic first thing in the morning and in the afternoon."

"So, we'll move, my parents have a place nearby. There will be plenty of space for me to complete my greatest work, and space so Antonio can learn magic that won't cross with mine." Charlie offered.

"Just like that? Don't you think it's a bit soon for us to be moving in together? We've literally been dating for about a week officially," Santana pointed out. When Charlie stares at her blankly she sighs, "We haven't even had sex Charlie. But you're suggesting sharing a space?"

"There is plenty of room, you can have your own room and I can have my own room. We don't need to have sex for that. Everything could be the same except we'd be in the same house." Charlie points out and frowns when Santana pulls away from him.

"I need to make sure you understand that _sex_ doesn't immediately lead to having children, does it? Like you do understand how human reproduction works right?"

Charlie tilts his head slightly, "I'm _aware_ of how it works Santana. But the only way to not have children is to not have sex, and I'm okay with that." He tilted his head slightly when Santana gave him a strange look. "Have you had sex since Antonio was born?"

Santana flushed, there hadn't _been_ anyone. She simply hadn't been interested. "It's difficult to meet people when you have a child, not just because having a kid scares some people away but because you _care_ about who you bring around your kids. I didn't have time to start a relationship and after the shit that Sebastian pulled I am absolutely terrified to have another kid even accidentally—that doesn't mean that I don't have _needs_."

"Needs?"

"Sexual ones."

"Oh."

Santana patted him on the leg gently, she didn't want to push him, it was just something to think about and she really needed him to know and understand. She imagined he was going to have a conversation with his father, but at least it was there. "Not now though, we need to talk about the schools. All of the boarding schools are _out_. My son isn't going to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts isn't a real place," Charlie reminds her as he takes the list from her and begins to read the paper that Santana hands him. He glances over the names carefully for a moment, "Before you make any decisions you need to know what Antonio's specific discipline is. Though—given his specific talents I might suggest a school that has an excellent art program, and while he's still in the mundane world he can take art lessons."

"Oh," she had never thought of that but if Antonio's drawings were going to come to life, having that as a skill did seem rather useful. It takes her a moment, as it finally sinks in. Out of all the things she had to worry about being a parent. "Holy shit."

Charlie blinked and turned to look at her, slightly confused at her reaction. "San—"

"My son is a magician."

"I thought we established that earlier," Charlie said slightly confused. He blinks when Santana grips his shirt and pulls him up only to shake him.

"My son is a magician."

Charlie blinked he could hear the panic in her voice. "I'm a magician?"

Santana smacked his arm, "I know you're a magician, but my son is a magician. I can already see the fires that he's going to start! He's going to be an artist—"

"He's going to be whatever he wants to be. But as for right now, he needs to learn to control, and I can teach him that. No fires, no explosion just basic control. He can learn the complicated material in a controlled environment." Charlie promised. He knew it wasn't something that he _could_ promise but it was _something_.

"I was worried about _women_."

"You were worried about women?" Charlie repeats. He crinkles his nose as he studies Santana. "Why?"

"Women are evil Charlie, keep up."

"I don't think you're evil."

"Wait till you have sex with me," Santana sniffs indignantly. When Charlie stares at her she smiles. "You have two sisters; how do you not know that they are _evil_?"

"Oh, I just thought it was my family—are you telling me _all_ women are evil?"

"Yes. You should stay away from them." Santana smirks at the confused look on his face and she knows she's deciding whether he should try and escape. She can't help but lean in and kiss his cheek and pat his leg gently. "I'm going to go check on Antonio and look into art schools for Antonio, you keep on it."

Charlie touched his cheek and nodded studying Santana for a moment as she walked away.

~O~

"Where is he?"

Charlie popped his head from where he was working and stared at his parents who were carrying multiple gifts in their hands and he tilts his head. They _looked_ excited. "Where is who?"

"Antonio. Keep up Charlie. I know you're not slow," Russell snapped at his son.

Charlie blinked slowly, "Still asleep. What are you doing here? I thought you were coming tonight around dinner."

"Antonio is our grandson—"

"Since when?" Charlie asked honestly confused.

"Never mind, that. Is he just upstairs?"

"Yes. But—" Charlie stared blankly as his parents basically walked past him and headed up to the apartments above. "Wait a moment— _hey_!" He frowned not exactly pleased that his parents were ignoring him and they seemed to be bearing _gifts_. He slides over his counter and follows his parents. "He needs his _sleep_."

"Yes, we know dear," Judy hummed in response. "We're not only here for Antonio, we're also here to give Santana the support she needs. She's the parent of a magician, something that we have in common. She's probably feeling overwhelmed and you—well Charlie, you aren't exactly the most _empathetic_."

"What?"

"Exactly dear, it's endearing though and I love you for it but this must be all so much for Santana." Judy continued before turning and gently rubbing his cheek for a moment as Russell knocked on the door.

"Charlie, you know you don't have to—" Santana begins as the door opens and she stares at Russell and Judy Fabray.

"They brought gifts," Charlie said flatly.

"We also came to talk to you about raising a magician son, we tried our best with him," Judy admits. "With all of them, but they are all pure-bloods and their magic is incredibly potent, when they were that young when they lashed out—well we're going to make sure that doesn't happen to you," Judy says pulling Santana into a tight hug.

Santana blinks slowly and turns to look at Charlie who looked as if he was about to leave her alone with _his_ parents. "Right—Charlie I just made tea how about you join us."

"No thanks." Charlie replied.

"I _insist_." Santana snips at him. She smiles at him and gives him a pointed look.

Charlie sighs and turns around. "Fine."


	57. Chapter 57

**AN: May is my birthday month, so things have been hectic as I prep 4 stories for my subscribers, which you will get eventually whenever I get around to it. So my mind has been frazzled a bit.**

* * *

"Santana, I didn't actually want any tea," Charlie mumbles to Santana as he helps herself to the platter that Santana was making. He munches on the crackers and cheese spread and frowns when Santana swats his hand. He frowns and rubs his hand, before reaching for more crackers.

"And I didn't want to be left alone with your parents—will you _quit that_ , they're for the guests."

"I'm a guest."

"Hardly, you're my boyfriend," Santana snaps at him. She forces a smile onto her face when Judy turns to look over at them. "Why are they here?"

"I told you they brought presents for Antonio," Charlie replies.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Is everything alright? Do you need any help in the kitchen Santana?" Judy offers standing up.

"No, it's fine," Santana insists and glares at Charlie who was munching on another cracker, he was absolutely _no_ help. "I'm afraid you've caught me a bit unaware, is everything alright?" Santana asks as she grabs the tray before Charlie demolishes the crackers and cheese spread she set out. She had never gotten to use her _fancy_ plates, but now was a good a time as any.

"Quinn informed us that Antonio's magic had _awakened_ at the very least three years _early_ , it's a joyous celebration now, where is he? There are presents to be had, it's _tradition_."

Santana glanced at Charlie who frowned, "I don't remember any presents?"

Russell rolled his eyes, "You were a baby, all we needed to do was get you a pacifier and you were happy. I mean given the fact that you personally caused many power outages and a few first-degree burns. Antonio is our grandchild and we certainly _knew_ that you weren't going to do it."

Judy sighed, and placed a hand on Russell's leg, instead focusing on Santana. "You must be _incredibly_ proud. And I know that this is all a bit conflicting, it's one of those milestones that a child hits that gets you excited. First word, first magical spell, first time they froze an entire room."

"Don't worry," Charlie said to Santana. "We still don't know what his discipline is. But he can check—you still remember how to do that right?" Charlie asks turning to his father.

"Of course, where is the boy?"

"Still sleeping, I've been making food all day all of his favorites, Charlie suggested that he might be really hungry when he wakes up, I think that's the part that bothers me the most, the sleeping. Everyone says it's normal and yeah Antonio has always slept like the dead but—it's _worrying_."

"I can have a look, but it does sound fairly normal. I mean he just used a store of energy that he had no idea existed, he's probably exhausted, it's best to let him wake up on his own, and it shouldn't be _too_ long."

Santana nods, it was bit disconcerting. "That would be wonderful actually, Charlie's been busy brushing up on the basics so he can teach Antonio, but just knowing that everything will be fine is a huge relief."

"You're teaching him the basics?" Russell questions as he stands up.

Charlie shrugs and reaches to dump sugar into his teacup. "Let's go figure out what his discipline is, then you can leave and I can start a lesson plan." Charlie said as he grabbed some more crackers and motioned for his father to follow him. "We'll be right back Santana."

Santana turned to look at Charlie before nodding, she trusted him and she doubted she would know or understand what Russell was doing, the last thing she needed to do was look foolish in front of them. Antonio was seven, she didn't want him to start getting embarrassed by her presence in his life. She had always hoped she'd be the cool mom.

Judy waits until her husband and son disappear around a corner and shifts a bit, "Are you okay with all of this? I know you were expecting it to happen later, but all of this magic that he's been around probably jump started it. There are cases like that."

"It's a bit much, I mean how am I supposed to ground a boy who can bend the fabric of reality?" Santana rubbed her head.

Judy laughed, "Yes that's a problem especially when your children have more magic than you do, but you're _lucky_. You can talk to Antonio and he seems to love you deeply, and he respects you. You'll probably have an easier time till the girls come along. I imagine, I never had to worry about that with Charlie. Brittany on the other hand—" Judy sighs and shakes her head. "How is my son taking this?"

"He's— _happy_ , I think he was in shock and then when Antonio looked at him the grin that was on his face, like I don't think I've seen him that animated before. I mean you should have heard him on the way back. Well I didn't understand what he was muttering about but it was mostly about Antonio."

"Like a proud father? I'm sure he is, I just don't think that Charlie understands that's what he feels," Judy mused. "He must be excited about this."

It causes Santana to freeze, she hadn't thought about it. She hadn't given it much thought, "Antonio wants Charlie to be his father. I just thought that given how Charlie is adamant that he doesn't want children that he'd never be up for that—or want that."

"Your problem is that Charlie doesn't like babies. He doesn't know any babies, I personally think he's terrified of them."

"He can summon a thunder titan _normally_ but he's afraid of babies?" Santana echoes surprised.

Judy smiled, "Charlie has a warped sense of what's dangerous."

Santana is about to respond when Charlie and Russell return, "Santana your son is—" Russell began.

"Both, he's _both_ , he registers as _both_." Charlie says quickly a smile on his face. "I can teach him. I need to pick out the very first spell I learned and see if he can complete it."

"Your tea Charlie," Santana reminds him, she needed him to calm down before things exploded. She watches in amusement as he grabs it and drinks it, gulping it down. "No fire, no explosions," she reminds him.

"Right—something simple. Did you find those art classes for him?"

Judy flicked her eyes towards Santana who nods, "Yeah, I found a few made a few calls today. I want to go check to make sure that they are actually talented."

"Excellent, with what he's learning there and what I will teach him. He'll be smarter than any of his professors," Charlie promises Santana.

"Charlie, the boy is a rare. He will be powerful with the right tutelage. And with the right push—"

Santana watched as Charlie's body went rigid, she had known his relationship with his father wasn't the best, but Russell had been there for her, he had been kind to her and he seemed to accept Antonio as his own flesh and blood. Sure, it was because they were baby crazy but she assumed that most parents who had grown adults were slightly baby crazy.

"No." Charlie said interrupting his father. "I'm going to teach him, until Santana decides he's ready to go to a proper magical school."

Russell turns his attention to Santana, "He's _special_ Santana, and yes I know we all say our kids are the best but when I say he's special I mean—"

Charlie stood up straight and frowned turning on his father immediately, "No."

Russell scowled, "I wasn't talking to you Charles. Santana needs to have all the information if she's going to make an informed decision."

Charlie shook his head emphatically, "No," Charlie insists turning to Santana. "Tell him _no_."

Santana studied Charlie for a moment she didn't quite know what was up with him but she _trusted_ Charlie. "I don't actually know what's going on but I'm going to have to say—"

"Santana, my son is openly admitting to wanting to curb Antonio's growth, I want him to be strong and a powerful magician."

"Antonio isn't a Fabray." Charlie snaps back immediately sparks flying off him angrily. His father was lying and twisting what he wanted. He was _not_ going to let Antonio become one of his father's pawns in the silly game of chess that his father played. He could practically feel his father's glee.

Santana twisted when Spot darted across the floor and she turns to see her son rubbing his eyes, looking positively _exhausted_. Charlie had his back turned, and she gets up to move to protect Antonio from the lightning that was coming off Charlie in quick sparks. "Charlie, calm down," she snaps at him.

"Antonio isn't _my_ son. He's not a Fabray, and even though you _pretend_ , you're _not_ his grandfather," Charlie spits angrily.

As tired as he was, Antonio's shoulders slump at the words and tears form in his eyes as he stares at Charlie heartbroken. It's almost enough to get Santana's heart to break she still didn't quite know what was going on with Charlie and his father but she needed to comfort her son, and get Russell and Charlie out of her apartment. "Charlie."

Charlie twists and turns to look at her his eyes finally spotting Antonio. He freezes for a moment but doesn't back down. "I—"

" _Out_. Everyone get out," Santana snaps at him and the rest of her family as she pulls her Antonio into a deep hug.

Charlie hesitates but his mother grips him by the arm and pulls him out of the apartment along with her husband. Charlie frowns and looks at his mother as she closes the door behind them. "I—"

Judy sighs and pulls him in for a hug, she'd deal with Russell's issues later. "Russell, go home. I need to have a quick conversation with our son."

"But—"

"Go home," Judy insists.

~O~

Normally when Antonio was sad getting him to eat was difficult, but today he looked absolutely miserable as he stuffed more food into his mouth and reached for his cup to take a deep drink. "Are you okay Antonio?" She finally asks and is rewarded with a nod from her son. "The food isn't going anywhere Antonio, just take it slow," she says moving to rub his back when he coughs.

Antonio drinks some more juice and swallows, "I don't want to be a magician anymore, is that okay?"

"Of course, it is, you can be anything you want to when you grow up. But you are going to need to learn to control your abilities," Santana said. "What is it— _oh_ , right with great power comes great responsibility," Santana echoes.

"That's _Spider Man,_ " Antonio smiled.

"Still applies here, at least I think," Santana shrugs and runs her hand through his hair. "Is this because you want Charlie to be your dad? He's not, Sebastian is your dad remember?" Antonio shrugged at this remark and Santana sighed watching as he feeds some of his food to Spot. "Antonio."

"He's a jerk."

Santana was quiet, "Well you need to tell him that. But, I need you to also listen to him. If you don't like his reasoning then that's okay. I think he has a reason for saying what he did, and you know Charlie he's not the _best_ at words."

Antonio huffed, that didn't sound fun at all but he nods. He didn't quite know how to feel about everything all he knew was that it _hurt._ "Kay," he says finally.

Santana sighed, she wanted them to get along, Charlie—well they were dating and he honestly was the first man she'd dated since Antonio was born, but he needed to acknowledge that there was a _special_ relationship between him and Antonio.


	58. Chapter 58

"Do I have to?" Antonio asked as his mother as they walked across the hall.

Santana sighed, "If you don't want to do magic anymore, then I'm not going to force you but I do agree that something needs to be done so you don't accidentally hurt someone. I'm not sure if he can bind your abilities but we need to take this step by step."

Antonio sighed and knocked on the door to Charlie's apartment, which swung open after a moment, knocking over a pile of books. He frowns and looks inside to where Charlie's sitting on the couch reading and shuffles inside, stepping around the pile of books. "My mom said I had to talk to you."

Charlie looks up from his book and tosses it aside as he turns to face Antonio, and smiles getting ready to get right to it. "Are you ready for your first magic lesson? We'll start small of course, just so you can build up your reserves. I was thinking of something simple—"

Antonio puffed out his cheeks, "I don't want to do magic anymore."

Charlie stopped and looked up at Santana who shrugged, "I'm not going to force him to do magic Charlie. He says he doesn't want to be a magician anymore. So, he's not going to be a magician anymore. I just told him he had to be the one to tell you."

"Oh." Charlie said and turned his attention back to Antonio. The expression on his face was unreadable as he sits up on his sofa. "Okay."

"Okay?" Antonio repeats, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Quinn will have to find someone to bind your magic," Charlie informs him bluntly. "You should give her a call, she'll have someone here later today, or early tomorrow. It won't hurt—I don't think, I've heard that people find it _uncomfortable_. Like wearing shoes that are just a bit too small for you."

Santana bit her lip and looked at Antonio, she had never seen him look so outraged before. This whole thing was amusing and despite the fact that she wanted to intervene, she needed Antonio to understand that Charlie wasn't trying to be cruel to him. He just didn't quite know how to manage this situation. It wouldn't do him any good if he didn't tell Charlie _exactly_ why he was upset. Charlie wasn't going to guess. "Antonio? Does that sound good?"

"I thought you wanted me to be a Magician," Antonio says crossing his arms over his chest. He had never looked more like his mother then at that moment.

Charlie blinked and stared at Antonio, "You just said that you didn't want to be a magician," he reminds Antonio confusion evident in his voice.

Antonio scoffed and looked at his mother who looked like she was about to laugh, this was _serious_. He huffs, he thought that Mr. Charlie _liked_ him but obviously he didn't. "You're a jerk."

The words cause Charlie to stop, "Oh, you're upset about before. It would be easier if you just told me Antonio, I'm _terrible_ at guessing."

Antonio stares at him expectantly, "You're supposed to say _sorry_."

"I don't know what I did wrong," Charlie points out, shooting Santana a look when she laughs. He didn't know what was so funny.

Antonio turned to look at his mother, confused by her laughter as well. He decides to ignore. "You don't like me."

"I'm pretty sure I never said that," Charlie replies, before he realizes what this is about. "You're angry because I said you weren't my son," When Antonio doesn't respond he frowns slightly, and reaches for his pockets.

This seems to snap Santana out of her laughter, this had been adorable but she knew him far too well. He was going for those damn cue cards. " _Charlie_."

Charlie frowned at this, he didn't even _have_ any cue cards. "You aren't my son," he says after a moment. When Antonio frowns at this statement, he decides to explain what he means. "I'm not your father—and that's a good thing. I can't imagine I'd make a very good father. I don't trust babies. They're funny looking and they smell bad."

"But I _want_ you to be my dad! You need to date my mom and then marry her so we can be a _family_. Don't you want that?" Antonio said ignoring Charlie's commentary. "You _like_ her, don't you?"

"I—"

"Antonio!"

"You're supposed to want me to do magic so we can do it together and then go on adventures. You _promised_ to take me to Undertown, and all these really cool places and—and—" Antonio takes a breath, a deep one and exhales slowly. "I just want to be a family, and tell people that I have a cool dad."

Santana moved to hug her son, she hadn't realized how much it meant to him, how much all of this meant to him and throwing this at Charlie hadn't been fair. He wasn't a dad, he didn't even know what to say most of the time. "Tony," she mumbled as she hugged him.

"You think I'm cool?"

Santana turns to glare at Charlie, he was so _obtuse_ at times. She opens her mouth to snap at him when she notices a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Yeah, but you're also a jerk," Antonio insists.

"I don't know how to be a dad Antonio, and I'm not _your_ dad. That guy with the funny face is your dad. Right?"

"Sebastian," Santana reminds him.

"Yes, _him_." Charlie stated simply. He's about to leave it like that when Santana shoots him a look and then nods at Antonio. He wasn't quite sure what that meant but he'd _try_ and explain. "Do you _like_ my father?"

"Gramps?" Charlie's lip curled at the statement, but nods. Antonio immediately nods his head and grins. "He's the _best_."

"So, I've been told," Charlie says and sighs. "The reason I don't want you to be my son, is because that would make you a Fabray. And being a Fabray, well it isn't fun most of the time. There are expectations and most of the time those expectations _hurt_. You're not a Fabray, and quite frankly you should _never_ be a Fabray. Just be yourself and be who you want to be. If you want to have magical adventures, then _do_ that after you learn magic." Charlie studies Antonio for a moment. "You are _powerful_ , or at the very least you will be if you put in the work. And there are people, like my father who will want to use your power for their own ends."

Antonio's face crinkled at the words, he wasn't quite sure _what_ Mr. Charlie was talking about. "So, your dad's _bad_?"

"I don't know. I think my father is my father," Charlie says after a moment. "You need to make your own mind about people, you shouldn't let others what to think. My opinion of my father is just that _my_ opinion." It was the best advice he could give. He waits for a moment, "Are you still upset with me?"

"Yeah," Antonio admits. "But I do want to learn magic," he says the last part quietly.

"Do you want me to teach you?" Charlie asks.

"Yeah," Antonio says. "I'm sorry for calling you a jerk," he says quickly when Charlie doesn't reply right away.

Charlie glances at Santana, "We're going to start with something simple, but before I teach you. We need to talk about the rules."

"No summoning dragons, or anything else," Antonio says immediately looking at his mother.

"Right and you need to do everything that Charlie says, if you're not listening or you do magic unsupervised then no more magic lessons until you're older," Santana says helping Charlie along. "This may be new and exciting for you but you're also not experienced with magic and I really don't want you to accidentally blow your hands off."

"Okay! Okay!" Antonio said turning to Charlie practically vibrating with excitement. "What are we going to learn first?"

"How to make this that textbook fly. Once you've mastered it, I'll teach you how to cast the spell on yourself so—"

"I can fly!" Antonio turned to his mother. "Mr. Charlie's going to teach me how to fly! Isn't that cool?"

Santana groaned inwardly and narrows her eyes at Charlie who merely shrugs and smiles in response. "Well, I'll go make snacks then. Please don't blow your arms off, I love your hugs Antonio," Santana says giving him a quick squeeze. "Charlie."

"I know, I know, make sure he doesn't do anything _dangerous._ I promise he won't." Charlie said as Antonio took a seat beside him.

~O~

"I _did_ it!" Antonio shouted, spending most of his energy on jumping around as he looked at the apple. It wasn't as high as Mr. Charlie's but it was floating, enough for him to put his fingers underneath. "Look mom! I did it."

Santana rubbed her eyes and watched as the apple floated a bit, and smiled pleased at how happy he was. She studies over the apple carefully and sure enough it was floating a bit. "That's amazing Antonio," she says looking over at Charlie who had a huge pleased smile on his face.

When Antonio turns to him he straightens up. "Good job Antonio, now you should put it down gently, just think about it on the table," Charlie said flicking his wrist to end the spell and letting his own apple drop. He catches it in his hand and places it on the table."

Antonio nods and turns back to his own apple and imagines it on the table and flicks his wrist as he had just witnessed Charlie do. He crinkles his nose when the apple doesn't drop onto the table. He attempts to do it again and scowls when nothing happens.

Charlie moves behind him and gently guides his hand a bit, "Clear your mind Antonio, and just _feel_ the magic, once you feel it, I need you to focus on stopping it. Just focus—" The apple suddenly drops onto the table and Charlie smiles. "See, excellent job Antonio."

Antonio turns and grins, "So can you teach me how to fly next?"

Charlie takes a seat and studies Antonio carefully, "No, not until you're _much_ better at this Antonio. I know you're looking forward to it, but you don't want to fly away and if you panic when you're too high—you'll go splat. I don't want that. You don't want that. I promised your mother that I would be responsible and be extra cautious. And that's what I plan on doing, and even if your mother hadn't told me to be careful with you Antonio I would have been. You're by far the most interesting dwarf I've ever met. You don't smell, you don't have a beard that makes me jealous and you don't smell like crappy booze half the time. Also, you don't really yell and knock me over."

Antonio smiles a bit, "I'm not a dwarf," he reminds Charlie. "I'm growing remember?"

"Right. I don't think your mom would allow you to grow a dwarf beard."

"I really won't. There's no way you'd be able to take care of it Antonio, and I think dwarf beards are _gross_ ," Santana said immediately, hoping to put that thought out of Antonio's head.

Charlie frowns slightly when Antonio yawns, "It's time for bed, you need to sleep and eat, more these days until you can find a way to regulate how much magic you expend Antonio." Charlie said as he moved to lift him up for Santana before Antonio decided to simply pass out onto his floor.

Antonio nods and curls up into Charlie's arms as he lifts him up and carries him to their apartment. "Kay," he mumbles sleepily.

Santana watches their interaction, she didn't doubt that Antonio was still hurt by Charlie's words. He might not be winning father of the year awards, but his actions were certainly better than Sebastian's. Sure, his judgement was questionable at times, but as long as she set the boundaries and reminded Charlie constantly that Antonio was indeed just a child he showed how much he cared for Antonio in ways that Sebastian had never done.

"We'll go and get breakfast in the morning, and then we'll work on your artwork, I think I need to see it in action before I can help you control it," Charlie informed him, rubbing his back gently. "I'm going to do my very best to make sure that you are more than ready to become a magician," Charlie promised.

"He's already asleep Charlie," Santana says reaching to ruffle Antonio's hair, she bites her lip when she notices the drool, that's already beginning to form. "Is that normal?"

"The sleeping? Yeah. We'll have to cut back a bit, to make sure he's not dead tired every day," Charlie said. "But be happy, you don't have to argue with him to go to bed anymore."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Yes but now I have to feed a bottomless pit," Santana sighed and shook her head. It was a trade off, "About what Antonio said earlier—he's a bit young to understand the complexities of what you said you know. I don't think anyone knows how to be a dad, but you take care of him, you make sure that he's safe and I know that some of my panicking is just that, but he's my only son and I've given so much just for him to _be_ , him. I know you Charlie well enough that you get interested in new things for a moment until you figure it out and I guess I need to know if that's what it is for Antonio, if you're going to get bored teaching him magic—"

"No. I'm not," Charlie interrupts as he gently places Antonio onto his bed. "I care about his wellbeing just as much as I care for yours and I already promised you that I would protect him, and I will."

Santana nods at this and leans in to kiss Antonio's forehead, "It seems, at least to me that you're acting like his father. Protecting him and nurturing him to be someone that you are proud of," Santana says gently she half expected Charlie to bolt but he just stands there and thinks over what she said. "I understand your reluctance to take on that _title_ , you think that your father will try and do what he did to you with Antonio, use him as another pawn in his game for power and recognition. I want the best for Antonio, and I need you to know that the fact that Sebastian knocked me up accidentally doesn't make him Antonio's _dad_. It's completely up to you Charlie but he wants you to be his father, up until he realizes that you aren't as cool as he thinks you are."


	59. Chapter 59

"Remember what we talked about," Santana reminded Antonio before glancing at Sebastian who looked rather impatient.

"Right," Antonio nodded touching the cool looking dragon pendent that Charlie had given him to stop him from using his magic accidentally. "I promise I'll be good," he said leaning in to give her a quick hug, before turning to look at his father.

"We're going go-karting, we'll be back this afternoon. He does like doing that right?"

"I don't know, ask him. He's your son," Santana said with a sigh. She was glad that Sebastian tried to check in with her about everything, but he was going to need to talk to Antonio about these things. He needed to be the one to discover what Antonio liked and disliked. She knew it was still awkward for him, for the two of them but he needed to put in the effort.

Sebastian turned to look at Antonio, he really didn't want to spend the entire day hearing about how great Mr. Charlie was and how he was teaching him magic. "So, what have you been up to lately Antonio? Still learning magic from Mr. Charlie?"

"Yeah," Antonio said but shrugged it off, "Mom also signed me up for art class," he explains. "That's really fun, I'm not very good yet."

"Oh, you're getting into the arts? I'll have you know I was a very prominent member of the show choir when I was back in high school."

"Show choir?" Antonio asks as he follows Sebastian, a curious expression on his face. "What's that?"

"Your mother has never told you about show choir?" Sebastian asks shooting Santana a look. "Your mother and I well when we sang together it was _magic_ , pure magic," Sebastian informs him.

"Really?"

Santana groaned, that was a headache to deal with for another time. She was probably going to get a million questions from Antonio later about her past with Sebastian. She sighs and turns back to the store and looked at the pile of orders that hadn't been done because Charlie had been so busy teaching Antonio and going over every little thing with him. She sighs, it was going to be a long day and she really should keep Charlie focused on work but over the past few days it had simply been about Antonio and she needed some personal time with him as well.

She heads behind the counter to Charlie's little sanctuary and pulls back the curtain causing him to turn to look at her, "Antonio's with Sebastian for the next couple of hours."

Charlie nods in response, "We should probably get some work done then." He gestures to his work bench which has far too many half-completed projects on it.

"Or," Santana prompts causing him to furrow his brow and look at her. "We can take a few moments to ourselves and we can make out."

Charlie tilts his head, his ears going a bit pink. "I think I'd rather be doing that," he admits after a moment. He couldn't remember the last time they had. He moves back a bit as Santana approaches him and takes a seat on his lap, he doesn't have to say anything as she leans in and kisses him.

It's the first time they've been in this position, sure they'd had make out sessions before but none of them had ever gotten heated, he had never moved his hands from her hips. In fact, if he wasn't responding to the kiss, she would personally think he wasn't that into her, or he had _perfect_ control over his body. She's practically straddling him and even though she knows it's been awhile, she was giving him some of her best work. Even Sebastian would probably get turned on, and she was certain that he had been checking Charlie out a few times. But she doesn't _feel_ anything, she adjusts on his hips so she's straddling and adjusts her body so she can grind against him but she _can't_ feel him at all and his hands are still placed chastely above her hips. She wasn't a teenager anymore but it was a blow to her ego, did he not find her at the very least sexually attractive?

Charlie blinks when Santana pulls away and scowls at him, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no you didn't I just—why aren't you turned on right now?"

"Turned on?" Charlie asks dumbly. "Santana, I don't—"

"I know. I _know_ you don't want to have sex and I'm not pressuring you to do it. I just—a girl, well anyone really boy or girl likes to know that they turn their partner on, you know sexually. It's an ego thing, and I mean I know I've never delved into it, but does it work?" Santana asks pointing down at Charlie's crotch.

It takes him a moment and a quick look down before he looks up at her, "I think so."

"You think so?" Santana repeats. "Do you masturbate? Do you get morning wood? Like what am I working with, I mean if you're one of the people who have trouble getting it up that's okay too."

"I don't get erections, I stopped getting them when I was a teenager. They were distracting," Charlie says briskly.

"They were—Charlie. Did you magic away your sex drive?" It suddenly made sense. Well actually it didn't make any sense, but it did seem like something Charlie would do.

"I didn't have time to deal with it and it would happen at inopportune moments so I simply found a spell and got rid of it. I had books to read and a lot of studying to do—and I didn't want children. Why are you looking at me like that?

"You took away your sex drive?" Santana repeats, she had no idea why she was shocked. It _did_ seem like something Charlie would do.

"Yes."

"You can reverse it right?"

Charlie paused at the question before nodding, "But I don't plan on doing that."

"Why not?"

I don't want to have children," Charlie reminds her. "The only—"

"Charlie if you can take away your sex drive, I'm sure there are _ways_ for you to magically prevent pregnancy. I don't know shoot blanks or _something._ " Santana says as she pushes herself off Charlie. "There's a difference between sex and having babies. I don't want another child right now if I ever do want one."

"I understand that Santana, but I prefer it this way. My work is important to me, and I need to be able to focus—"

"Am I important to you?"

Charlie stops and stares at her, he frowns at the question. "You are," he studies her for a moment. "You made it clear that we were in a relationship and you were my girlfriend."

"I also made it clear that there are certain expectations," Santana sighs she didn't want to pressure him to do something that he didn't want to do but at the same time, he wasn't playing by normal rules. "You can't just magic away feelings that you don't want. You don't want to have sex then that's fine but that doesn't mean change who you are or how your body works. I'm not going to keep kissing you if you're _hiding_ behind your magic."

"I'm not hiding behind my magic, I've learned to live without it," Charlie says frowning. "I'm not doing it."

Santana inhaled deeply for a moment, she wasn't going to spend her time bickering with him over this. It was his choice to make. "Fine, I'm going to get back to work."

Charlie crinkled his nose, he'd much rather be kissing Santana than working. He wanted to spend more time with Santana, "Perhaps we can do something else that isn't work. We can work on your magic—"

"Are you going to stop hiding behind your magic?"

"Santana, you don't even want to have sex with me."

"That's a lie and you know it, I'm not _ready_ to have sex again. I haven't even told Antonio that we're seeing each other, and I promised myself that if I was ever seeing anyone and I was ready to take that step with them, I'd tell my son." On the off chance that a child was conceived, but there was no way in hell she was letting anyone near her without a condom. "You're just _hiding_ behind your magic pretending you're above it all when the reality is you're not. And right now, I can't deal with that—or you right now. So, I'm going back to work. You're free to do whatever it is you want. You already do without any thought to the people around you."

Charlie watched stunned as Santana stormed out. He blinked twice and then frowned slightly and looked down at himself.

~O~

Santana frowns as she looks up at Charlie who was hovering, it hadn't even been a day and he was already playing up the wounded animal look. It was irritating, he _knew_ what he needed to do, and he simply wasn't getting around to doing it. She knew she had probably been a bit too harsh, but she had been upset with him and this was their first fight. "Antonio's asleep so you don't have to linger," she said finally turning back to the book that she'd been reading.

"I know, he was pretty tired. I just thought we needed to talk about before—"

"Did you at least think about what I said?"

"Yes but—"

"Charlie, I don't want to argue with you and I'm still annoyed with you."

"I just don't see why it's important to you. I've been this way since I was a teenager—"

"But you didn't have a girlfriend then. There was no one you liked enough to take that step with. I get it, and I'm not upset that you did it, I'm upset that you think that it's a good idea to _keep_ denying yourself like that. Do you just plan on kissing me chastely and holding my hand for the rest of your life? Did you think that's what we were going to do forever?"

"I like doing those things," he says finally.

Santana sighs, her shoulders slumping. "I know you like doing those things Charlie, I like doing them as well. And I'm aware of your very odd hang-up about sex, I know that you don't want to have kids. I'm not exactly hoping for that scenario myself. Antonio is more than enough for me. But one day I would like to be _intimate_ it with you. Not now, but there's something about sex that's just different. I want this relationship to progress, I want to _progress_ with you and it doesn't work if you're going to stay the same person. I mean how do you even know that you're attracted to me? You took away your sex drive Charlie, I don't even know if you are sexually attracted to men. I mean I've already _done_ that with Sebastian. Not going through that again."

"I like you," Charlie insists.

Santana nods, "I like you too, but I need you to be _honest_ with yourself. I just want to be with you without some magical block that you put on yourself between us. Does that make sense?"

Charlie frowns, "I'll _think_ about it," he says hoping that it's enough.

"You do that," Santana nods at him sighing when he doesn't move. "In your own apartment? I don't feel like kissing you Charlie."

"Okay, but we need to talk about your magic. You're not dealing with it either," Charlie points out. "You have magic, and we need to figure it out."

"Fine we'll make an appointment to see that witch your father suggested," Santana sighed, hoping that it was enough to get Charlie to go away, but he doesn't and she can't help but look at him. "Charlie?"

"I've decided that I don't like it when you're upset with me," he states plainly.

She can't help but chuckle at his words, he was so _honest_. It was refreshing and even though she was annoyed with him she motions to the spot beside her. "Fine you can stay, but I'm not going to stop being annoyed with you."

"You're going to be mad at me forever?"

"No, until tomorrow at the latest," Santana says scooting over so he can take a seat.

"We'll go back to kissing tomorrow?" Charlie presses taking a seat beside her.

Santana sighed and tried not to smile, "For someone who doesn't want to have sex you sure seem to like my lips on you," she leans against his shoulder. "We'll see," she says after he gives her an expectant look.

Charlie nods, his mother did say that he would have to make compromises so if removing the spell was what it took to keep Santana happy and around then he would do it.


	60. Chapter 60

"Your father explained why most witches don't like you," Santana whispered quietly to Charlie who turned to look at her. "We thought it best that I do the talking."

"I've heard you yell out numerous curses when the deliveryman just throws the boxes at the door and leaves," Charlie reminds her. "It's rather _colorful_ , and I've lived on a boat with sailors for a few days."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Yes but I can talk to people without offending them. You were telling Antonio about how you accidentally insulted some dwarf's mother and he ran around chasing you with an axe. We want her to help us, not I don't know curse you for eternity."

"Don't be silly Santana, she's not going to curse me for an eternity. If you want to do the talking then you can, but I'll barter. I'm very good at that."

"Really? You bought that ridiculous art set for Antonio, and you paid far more than it was worth."

"I don't _haggle_ at stores, and how was I supposed to know that it was a rip-off? This is different, I'm the only purveyor of rare antiquities in the area, I know how to barter when it comes to these things."

"Fine but don't try and lowball her either, we don't want to offend her," Santana hissed before slapping a smile on her face as the elevator doors opened.

"I still think it's creepy when people smile when they aren't happy."

Santana rolled her eyes, she wasn't even going to bother to correct him on this one. They needed this to go right. She wasn't sure if she even wanted magic, but she knew that Charlie would never leave it alone until he had figured it out. She walks up to the assistant and smiles, "We have an appointment with Ms. Wright,"

"Mr. Fabray!"

Charlie scowled at this and was about to say something when Santana elbows him hard in the stomach, he turns and spots a familiar woman. He couldn't quite remember where he had seen her before but he nods, "Isabelle Wright?" He says extending his hand.

Isabelle doesn't shake his offered hand and instead turns to Santana tilting her head, "I can see why you came."

Santana blinked as it takes her a moment to realize that Isabelle is openly staring at her in a way that makes her uncomfortable, perhaps she should have let Charlie do all the talking. "I'm guessing that means you can bring forth my magic?" Santana asks.

"Perhaps. Though, if I'm honest I've never quite seen someone like you though. I'm not certain there _is_ anything I can do for you. But if there is, I imagine the cost will be great," Isabelle says as she motions them into her office.

Santana hesitates but follows her, she didn't like the sound of that and she was certain from the frown on Charlie's face that the feeling was _mutual_. "What cost?"

"You're a _magician_ ' _s assistant_ , and you don't know that all magic has a cost?"

"I'm aware of the costs of being his assistant. I know that magic has a cost."

"Yes, but you see it as an energy expenditure don't you, something as simple as a pool of energy that they tap into. They use too much magic, they fall asleep. Isn't that right Charles?"

Charlie scowled for a moment before tilting his head, "Witches don't have magic like I have magic. They use _primal_ forces, it's all very primitive—" Charlie grimaced when Santana pinched him. "It's an external vs _internal_ situation. Magician's have internal magic that we manipulate. Witches can only manipulate forces through external means. The price for magic is _higher_. That's why we have situations of animal sacrifice, blood magic—sex magic—"

"It's all very boring stuff," Isabelle interrupts, studying Santana. "You have magic in your blood."

Santana shrugs, "I think so. My Abuela had magic, a little bit of it—enough for Charlie to notice when she came to his shop. She seemed to know of the world, but I wasn't _raised_ in _this_ world. I was raised as a mundane. So, this is all new to me Charlie may understand, but I don't and I would prefer if you could explain to me what the cost of doing whatever it is you plan on doing to me is? Also, I'd like to know why I can't bend the fabric of reality to my will."

"I won't know what the cost is until I have more information. The cost to you could be very great, or it might just be a rather simple undoing." Isabelle crossed her legs as she leaned back in her chair, "I don't quite understand why _you_ haven't figured it out yet Charles."

"I don't know _everything_. There are plenty of mundanes with some base magical ability, I simply assumed that she was one of them. I was _wrong_ , what I do know is she does come from a powerful line of magician's one that was thought to have died out ages ago."

"Wait—what?" Santana turned to him.

Charlie looks at her and shrugs, "I did some research into your family tree. It took a bit of digging but your Abuela had a sister who was a _magician_. She however died without having any children. It skipped your father's generation but _you_ have magic, and you're _powerful_ I just have no idea _why_ you can't use magic like I can. Certain events have alerted to me how _wrong_ I was." He looked at Santana carefully. They had already agreed that Antonio wasn't to be mentioned.

"Events?" Isabelle prods immediately frowning slightly.

"We had a run in with a powerful psychic and he was trying to teach me how to defend myself," Santana lies with ease. "Well he pestered me until I gave in and tried to do a shield, it's what drained him dry." Santana explains.

Isabelle hummed in response and moved to examine Santana flipping over her hands so she could inspect her palms, "Did you know that it is _said_ that witches are descendent from magicians? We're the magician's who couldn't do _magic_ and were cast out."

Santana frowned slightly, she couldn't be implying what she thought she was implying, "I don't understand you think my _Abuela_ was a witch?"

"If you're powerful enough to drain a _Fabray_ , then it is quite possible that you showed signs at birth like they did, even if she wasn't she _knew_ someone who had the power to do whatever was done to you." Isabelle traces a design on Santana's hand with her thumb.

"I would know if a simple binding spell was used," Charlie points out immediately. It couldn't be _that simple_.

"I never said it was a simple binding spell," Isabelle says with a frown. "If it was a normal binding done by a _magician_ , then this would be a simple fix. You could do it yourself. However, this _wasn't_ done by a _magician_ , I doubt very much that it was done by a _witch_ at least an ethical one. Releasing her magic at this point in her life, at least _fully_ will destroy her body. You were correct in your assessment that she'd _never_ be able to do magic like you can at least not without drawing it from an external source."

Santana stared in shock, she had never really given much thought to being a _magician_ , but the idea that she had been _robbed_ of yet another choice? By someone that she had thought loved her more than anything? She was _furious_. "Is there a _but_?"

"Santana—" Charlie prompts reaching to take her hand, and frowns when she pulls away from him.

"I want to know what you _can_ do for me," Santana says looking at Isabelle who smiles brightly at her. It should have been unnerving but she was _angry_ and she was mad at Charlie. She knew it was ridiculous and that he _hadn't_ done anything wrong, but she hadn't needed to know that her Abuela had _cursed her_. Or whatever the equivalent was.

"Your body has already adjusted to what was done for you, the human body is markedly resilient. Most of your magic is being shunted to your eyes, but the pathway isn't fully opened. I can open that, you will be able to see _everything_. There hasn't been a _seer_ in North America in at least a hundred years, probably more."

"Okay. Fine. Do it." Santana said crossing her arms over her chest.

"No," Charlie said immediately. He doesn't flinch away when Santana turns on him angrily. "You don't even know what a seer is, you don't know what the consequence of being what a seer entails and even if she were to give you every important detail and you _still_ wanted to go through with it. It will take who knows _how_ long to control such a gift, and you're _angry_."

"Of _course,_ I'm angry. I'm fucking pissed—she's my _Abuela_. How could she do this to me? I didn't even know what I had and now I find out she took it away. She _stole_ what I could have been," Santana snaps at him. "This isn't just some small inconsequential thing."

"I know. I can't imagine my reaction would be different, but I'm not going to allow you to make a decision when you're angry. I know you think this may be none of my business but it is," Charlie said immediately he didn't know how to advocate for Antonio's opinion without coming right out and saying it. Instead he tilts his head, "I imagine this will be _costly_ for me."

Santana hesitates and frowns, "I can pay the price—"

"And you will, most seers lose themselves in the past, in the future, in the present. Seeing what was, or what could be—as I said there are no seers in North America. You are _special_ , but he's not talking about the price of the magic. He's talking about what my price for doing the procedure is. You have nothing I want, Charles on the other hand is a purveyor of some _interesting_ things."

Charlie frowned, "What do you want?"

"Access, simply access. I understand why you're hesitant to simply sell to any witch that walks in off the street. I would be worried, you can't tell a good witch from a bad witch. Which is why I'm saying that you _sell_ to me."

"No."

"No?" Isabelle repeats frowning. Cassandra had been certain he'd be easy to push around.

"I don't make open ended bargains. I am certainly not going to help you by providing you a way to exert your control over other witches through what I imagine is controlling the price of goods which they could easily get from my store if they were magician's."

Isabelle frowned. "Cassandra insisted that you were the dim one."

"I haven't spoken to my Aunt Cassandra since I _graduated_ , she's never been around. She just assumed I was the dim one. You have done business with my father, haven't you?" Charlie reaches and pulls on Santana's arm. "Come on, when she thinks of something that she wants badly enough she'll come to us. And by then you will have researched seers and learned what the price of your decision is."

Santana lets him pull her away, she felt numb and she knew she should be annoyed with him for second guessing her decision, but she didn't know how to deal with _how_ she felt at this moment.


	61. Chapter 61

"You're upset with me."

Santana narrowed her eyes, "I thought you said that this was _my_ decision," Santana snapped at him.

"If you wish to become a seer, then I will support you. But, you didn't actually _care_ if you could do magic until you found out that your Abuela had stripped you of your birth right. Magic has a cost, you know this and for you to rush into it without knowing? Without understanding what the cost is? I'm only doing this to help you."

"You think I should go through with it—"

"A seer? I wanted you to become a _magician_ like me, like Antonio, so we could make magic together. A seer doesn't make magic, they just tell the future or the present, or the past. None of it is useful, people that learn the future end up trying to change it—which generally makes it happen. I don't want to live my life knowing what can kill me or not kill me," Charlie interrupts. "Do you?"

"That's not the point, you said you'd haggle—"

"I am haggling, but at the same time I am not going to _allow_ Isabelle Wright to form a monopoly. She overplayed her hand, and perhaps she thinks that I am a fool because I'm not _good_ at this kind of thing, but even I can tell what she wanted. My father is Russell Fabray after all, and I'm not _stupid_ ," Charlie frowned and turned to look at Santana.

Santana glared at him, he was right of course, and she _hated_ him for it. She could feel it in her bones that Isabelle wasn't a _good_ person. "It wasn't your decision to make, I don't care if you're my boyfriend. It's not your job to stop me from making mistakes."

"When have I ever done that? I'm stopping you from making a deal with a _witch_ , especially since now that I know what's wrong with you I can look into it and see if it is even _feasible_ to unlock your magic. We can look into this together, but it's generally a terrible idea to take the first deal you come across. That's how you end up naked in the desert."

The anger dissipates as Charlie crinkles his nose and she stares at him. "How did you—I don't actually want to know." A crooked smile appears on his face and she rolls her eyes, "Are you making up stories?"

"Sometimes, it entertains Antonio when I _embellish_ a bit, however I did end up naked in a desert. Never trust a pixie. Dangerous little things and they enjoy pranking people."

Santana stared and bit her lip before shaking her head, she felt better. At least a _little_ bit better. But it's only for a moment as her shoulders slump. "My Abuela _cursed_ me."

"She didn't curse you. I can sense curses, not well but something about a person just _feels_ off. Like you want to move away from them. I want to move closer to you, so you're not _cursed_."

"I don't need you to be romantic about this," Santana snaps slightly annoyed.

"I'm not being romantic, when someone is cursed you don't want to be around them. Perhaps I'm blinded by my feelings from you but _someone_ , Quinn, Brittany my parents would have _noticed_ ," Charlie argues. "Antonio wouldn't love you as much as he does."

"Oh," Santana deflates. "So, you think I should get a second opinion?"

"I think you need to go straight to the source if you can, and your Abuela is still alive. I can take you to a million people, and they won't know what she did to you," Charlie frowned. "I mean, she did _something_. If she can _undo_ it then we won't need to deal with Isabelle."

Santana stared at him, "You want me to ask my _Abuela_?"

"Well, she's probably the one that did whatever this—" Charlie gestures around her body, "is. Or at the very least she knows the person that did it, I know you might not want to talk to your Abuela, I barely want to talk to my family either, but this is important. I don't know if I should be worried about you or not. I think she loves you, so I don't think she did it to hurt you. But I don't know her like you do." Charlie said moving to wrap his arms around her. He frowns when she pushes him away.

"No."

"No?" Charlie repeats.

"Let's just forget about this, if Antonio asks there is nothing that we can do about it." Santana says briskly she wasn't going to face her Abuela, she didn't _want_ to and there was nothing he could say to make her.

"Okay," Charlie shrugged.

"Okay?"

"I won't make you talk to your Abuela if you don't make me talk to my family," Charlie says.

"Charlie."

"What?"

"I think that's fair. I drop it, and I never have to talk to my family unless I want something."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll talk to my _Abuela_."

"I still don't want to talk to my family—"

"If I have to do it then so do you," Santana snaps at him. She can't help but smile when he sighs and pouts.

"Fine."

~O~

"Why are you staring at my mom?"

Charlie blinks and tilts his head to stare at Antonio, "Shouldn't you be focusing on making that apple float and land gently? We'll start teaching you how to fly when you can move that apple from over there to where I am without touching it," Charlie said briskly, deciding to simply ignore the fact that Antonio had caught him staring.

Antonio huffed, it was _boring_ but he really did want to know how to fly. "You didn't answer my question."

"I know. Focus on your spells, you remember what I told you, the more you focus the easier it is. So, _focus_." Charlie said before turning and returning to staring at Santana. He really should have been working on his teleportation system but he found watching Santana to be a far better use of his time.

"It's really weird," Antonio adds after a moment. "Is it because you like her?"

Charlie frowned, slightly and turned his attention back to Antonio, "Antonio."

"Because I think she looks at you when you're not looking too. That's weird too, and my mom said you're supposed to be _watching_ me." Antonio adds.

"You're not doing anything interesting," Charlie points out.

Antonio turns to look at his mom for a moment, she had seemed slightly annoyed earlier but now she was just doing laundry. He turns and gives Mr. Charlie his best unimpressed look. "Adults are _weird_."

"We are," Charlie agreed. "What do mundanes do for fun anyway?"

Antonio turned to look at Charlie for a moment, "You want to ask my mom out on a date?"

"Is it a date if you're there as well?" Charlie asks watching as Antonio debates it internally for a moment. Santana had wanted to do more things with Antonio.

"No, we do stuff together all the _time_ ," Antonio says and shrugs, dropping the point. "I don't know why don't we just ask mom what she wants to do but she might ask us to help with the laundry."

"Okay."

"Okay? You want to do laundry?"

"No, but you can apply what I'm teaching you now to help," Charlie said as he pushed himself off his seat and headed towards Santana.

Almost immediately Santana tenses and looks up at her son and boyfriend and frowns, they were probably planning something that she wouldn't like. "Yes," she prompts glancing at Antonio who didn't look thrilled. "Did you cause a minor explosion?"

"No! Mr. Charlie's bored and he was staring at you because he's bored, and he wants us to go out together and do mundane things," Antonio said poking at a towel.

"Oh?" Santana blinks as she watches as Charlie opens his hands and a towel rises and folds itself before placing itself down in the laundry room. She blinks and turns to him, irked at his general laziness. "You mean you could have been helping me with folding and you haven't?"

Charlie pushes Antonio forward, "Don't worry Antonio's going to help. I'm going to teach him."

"I don't want him to use magic as a way to get through his chores quicker," Santana argues.

"This is a learning experience for him," Charlie nods. "Once we're done we can go for ice cream. I want Oreos in mine."

Santana sighed and shook her head, he was _impossible_ to deal with, but the ice cream seemed to excite Antonio who held up his hands and did what Charlie had done. She watches in slight amazement as another towel rises up and folds itself messily, before flopping onto the ground. "That was _amazing_ Antonio."

Antonio crinkled his nose and poked the towel, "It was _horrible_."

"It really was," Charlie agrees, ignoring Santana's glare. "You just need a bit more control and that's why you practice Antonio, cause when I teach you how to fly you don't want to smash into walls do you?"

"No," Antonio nods and tries again. "But I don't want to be folded either."

"It's not about the folding it's about the control, you need to be able to stop quickly," Charlie explains. "If you don't have the control you'll be a terrible flier, and you don't want that."

"Yeah," Antonio agrees and focuses on what he was supposed to do.

Santana relaxes for a moment, she wanted to prop Antonio up as much as she could and it pricked at her to hear Charlie agreeing with him. But he was right, Antonio could do better. She just didn't want to put him down like her parents had done to her. She didn't want him to feel like garbage. She reaches and runs a hand through his hair, before kissing him on the forehead. "Try again and keep trying."


	62. Chapter 62

"But Mr. Charlie was going to teach me how to fly! I don't want to go with Sebastian," Antonio argued with his mother.

"I know, but he has a meeting with the council, this could be a very big deal for him. He's still going to teach you how to fly Antonio, it just can't be today. I know, but I have a meeting of my own today and Sebastian said that he could take you for the day."

"I don't need a babysitter."

"It's not babysitting if he's your father," Santana points out. "He wants to spend time with you and you had fun didn't you at the pottery barn? You made me that vase remember?"

"It's a cup!"

Santana flushed and kissed Antonio's forehead, "Right, a cup. Thank you it was an awesome cup," Santana agrees quickly. She didn't like simply dropping him off with Sebastian but Charlie had been gotten the message from his father this morning and was currently attempting to dress in something that looked nice.

"Well why can't I go with Mr. Charlie?" Antonio asked. "Maybe Ms. Quinn can teach me how to fly. Or—Ms. Brittany—"

"Antonio, you can't just impose on someone. I know you think of them of as your aunts but the last time I left you with Quinn, you got magical abilities. Also, I really don't want you to be dragon food, which is why you can't stay with Brittany. Maybe your father can take you to see Mr. Fabray, I know Charlie doesn't quite like him but his discipline is _theory_. He might be able to teach you something that Charlie can't and might be able to explain it better than Charlie."

Antonio blinked, Mr. Fabray could teach him _magic_. Then he could impress Mr. Charlie with the fact that he could fly and then they could learn how to summon things. "I want to do that."

Santana nodded and winced, she hadn't planned on foisting Antonio onto Russell, but for _now_ he was harmless and he did seem to truly enjoy Antonio's presence. She would have to give him a call about what he could teach Antonio and what he couldn't. She already suspected that Charlie would be annoyed with this turn of events. "No asking him to teach you anything that Charlie thinks is to advanced okay? You _just_ managed to convince Charlie to teach you how to fly. You've been extremely responsible and I know that you want to learn everything quickly so you can try doing it yourself, but you're still growing and there is a _lot_ to learn." Santana lectures as she zips up Antonio's hoodie for him. "And I know Sebastian is trying but he's not a part of this world Antonio and you need to cut him some slack. He's trying his _hardest_."

Antonio shrugged, "We never do anything that I want to do."

"All you want to do is magic, and that's _fair_. It's new and _amazing_ , but Sebastian can't do that." Santana pointed out sighing slightly, she was going to have to _tell_ him. It was something that she had thought about and while Charlie had given Antonio the gaudy dragon necklace to bind his abilities temporarily, it wasn't ideal. If anything happened, Sebastian would be _completely_ out of the loop and that was dangerous for Antonio. "But, we can—we _should_ tell him."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Santana nods. Another thing Charlie was simply going to have to get used to. As far as Antonio was concerned, Charlie's opinion was the only one that he cared about. He had a short memory and he wanted it desperately. "I'm also going to need to tell Sebastian that Charlie and I are dating," she adds watching Antonio carefully.

Antonio freezes for a moment, "What?"

"We're dating, I kept it from you because I wasn't sure if it was going anywhere, he's not exactly the most romantic person in the world but I _like_ him. I know you like him too, but you know how _weird_ Charlie is. He gets weirded out by these things, I know you want him to be your _father_. I understand that he does a lot of things for you that _dad's_ do for their sons, but I don't think he's _ready_ to be called that yet. So, you need to be _patient_ with him alright?"

Antonio nods his eyes wide a grin on his face, "Are you going to get married?"

"Antonio!"

"Well? Are you?"

"I just said that we need to take _baby_ steps with him." Santana reminds Antonio tapping his nose. "I'm not even thinking about marriage right now Antonio. I'd rather you didn't scare Charlie, or pressuring him into thinking it's a good idea. I'm _happy_ right now, I have you. I have him, I'm happy _right_ now." Santana stresses.

Antonio nods, and turns to stare at Charlie who had just entered their apartment trying to fix the tie around his neck. He's practically vibrating with excitement and he watches as Charlie stops and stares at him.

Charlie turns to look at Santana who is watching them, "Santana—are children supposed to vibrate like that? He's not going to explode, is he?"

"I told him that we're dating."

"Oh." Charlie said and looked at Antonio for a moment before going back to his tie. "Can you help me with this? I tried to magic it but it didn't end up going well for me. Quinn told me to wear a suit, I don't actually want to, but I don't want her to get annoyed with me. I think it's Rachel's doing."

Antonio launched forward hugging Charlie's legs and nearly bowling him over. "You're dating my mom."

"Yes, I am," Charlie agrees and pats Antonio's head awkwardly. "Now the tie?"

Santana rolls her eyes and moves to help him, "I should have given you the heads up," she admits.

"Does this mean we can hold hands and kiss in front of the dwarf?" Charlie asks seriously.

"You kiss my mom?" Antonio asks.

"That's generally what dating entails," Charlie explains. "I think."

"Aren't you afraid of cooties?"

Santana raised a brow and gently swatted Antonio, "You think I have cooties?" She shakes her head and looks at Charlie. "We can hold hands, but I don't want to scar my son."

Charlie nods as he plays with his tie, and then looks at Antonio, he was unsure of what to say so he just patted him on the head again. "Uh, we'll talk later about this, but I'm already late."

"Okay," Antonio nods.

Santana watches as he leans forward for a moment before remembering that Antonio was staring at them and he takes off before smiling and turning to look at Antonio. Hopefully when she told Sebastian he would handle it with maturity.

~O~

Antonio made a beeline to Mr. Fabray's office pushing open the door before Sebastian could stop him. Sebastian had been acting weird since his mom had informed him bluntly that he was a _magician_. "Hey Mr. Fabray," Antonio said watching as Russell lit up. "Mom said that you might be able to teach me how to _fly_! Can you? That's what I'm supposed to learn next."

"Fly? Of course, I can teach you that. It's rather simple and honestly it's not at all useful at all," Russell informs him. "Wouldn't you like to summon creatures? You can have an army of monsters at your disposal."

"Really—oh. I can't. Mom said that if I summon anything she'll have Ms. Quinn bind my abilities. So, I just want to learn how to fly, please."

Russell nods, "Smart boy, listening to your mother. Of course, I'll teach you how to fly—" Russell trails off and looks at Sebastian who was staring at the two of them. "Do you need something?" He questions.

"You're a _magician_ too?" Sebastian asked crinkling his nose.

"Your mother informed him?"

"Yeah," Antonio nods his head. "I don't think he understands though."

"Ah, do you wish to show him what you've learned so far? I assume my son taught you how to make things float?" Russell takes out a paperweight and taps it for Antonio to move around.

Antonio grins and exhales before concentrating moving his fingers like Charlie had drilled into his head, when he was older he wouldn't have to do this but Charlie said he needed to learn how to crawl before he could walk. His fingers twist and he mumbles under his breath before the paperweight slowly raises it up.

"What the _fuck_!"

Russell turned to Sebastian and raised a brow, " _Language_. He's a boy, he doesn't need to know those types of words."

Sebastian moved to run his hand over and then under the floating paperweight, he turns to look at Antonio who grins proudly at him. " _Shit_."

Russell rolled his eyes as Sebastian stumbled backwards, "That's your son do try not to act like a coward, it might send him the wrong message," he says with a shake of his head. "That's very good Antonio now I need you to make it do a circle in the air." Russell said, "If you can do that then I'll teach you how to fly."

"Awesome," Antonio said ignoring Sebastian as he focused making the paperweight make a large shaky circle. He was _so_ going to surprise Mr. Charlie

Sebastian stared, is this what Charlie did? He was still very confused, was Santana like this a _witch_ or something? He didn't know what to make of it and he was tempted to simply _ignore it_. That's exactly what he was going to do, _ignore it_.


	63. Chapter 63

Santana was _tempted_ to simply turn back around and head back home. She didn't know what she would tell Charlie, but he could be rather dim _sometimes_. She would just need to think of a rather convincing lie. Telling him her Abuela had died, was a bit too much in her opinion, but maybe she could spin it so the person who _had_ done it was dead or something of the sort.

She _wished_ that Charlie could have come, he knew the right questions to ask. He _knew_ magical lore better than anyone that she knew, even though that was an incredibly small circle of magicians. He would at least be able to keep a level head. Something she was certain was impossible for her. She had spent the entire trip down here wondering what could have possessed her Abuela to do what she had done. It was why she had thought about Antonio. The only reason she would even consider _binding_ his powers, was if he was a danger to himself and others. And even then, it wouldn't have been permanent.

But skulking around her Abuela's door was _not_ going to give her the answers she needed and she fiddles with the cue cards that Charlie had prepared for her. He'd even given her space to write down the answers that her Abuela gave. It was—surprisingly _thoughtful_. For _him_. She exhales and pushes the doorbell, keeping her finger on it so her _Abuela_ knew exactly who was at the door.

The door swings open after a brief pause, and the irritated look on Alma's face disappears when she spots her granddaughter. "Santana—"

Santana held up her hand, she didn't want to hear any excuses. She just wanted to finish saying what she wanted to say. "Antonio has _magic_. Charlie says he's still growing into it. Sometimes it fades before he wants it to. Most of the time it puts him out like a light. But what I know, what I can see is how _happy_ it makes him. He learned how to float the other day. It nearly gave me a heart attack but he's _happy_. He's so fucking happy. He works so hard at it, to master it. He's new at all this, and he wants to learn everything. And I am so _incredibly_ proud of him." She takes a deep breath, she could feel the anger mixed with sorrow growing. "So, what I don't understand is _how_ you could strip that from me. I'll never be able to experience what my son is experiencing, I'll never get to feel that tingle at the tip of your fingertips as you weave magic. I just want to know— _why_? How could you do that to me?"

"Do that to you?" Alma inhaled sharply, narrowing her eyes before taking a step back so that Santana could enter her house. This wasn't a conversation for prying ears.

Santana hesitates for a moment before deciding to follow her Abuela, taking a step inside and allowing her Abuela to close the door. "I'm not staying long, I just want some answers."

"I didn't do _anything_ to you, I _saved you_ , because _despite_ what you may have been led to believe magic is a _blight_ on society. A group of individuals who feel that they are better than us _mundanes_ because they have the power to change reality based on their _whims_. They discard people who have no use to them and once they realize that you have no use for your son they'll discard him as well."

"Charlie isn't going to discard Antonio, he adores my son—in his own weird way," Santana retorted rolling her eyes. "There isn't an emphasis on purebloods anymore, hell there are so few of them left to begin with people think that they're inbreeding, or something." Santana frowned, she wasn't focusing on the point at hand. She wasn't going to let her Abuela distract her. "Please don't tell me that you did something this _invasive_ , this wrong for my own good?"

"Who was going to teach you how to control your magic Santana? I was _cast_ out for being a _mundane_ , and even _with that_ my family is dead. You think that your _parents_ would have kept you while you made objects float and weird things happened to you? Do you think that they would have been _happy_ with a demon child, and given your _tantrums_ as a child how bad do you think it would have gotten? I did what I thought was best for you and I do not have any regrets. We do what we must to protect our loved ones."

" _Bullshit_. Protect me? You turned your back on me when I was sixteen and pregnant. You had no idea where I was and you didn't care to. You just wanted me to abort my _child_ , despite the fact that for my entire life you've made comments about women who were in my position."

"My comments still stand, you shouldn't have opened your legs for that _boy_."

Santana twitched angrily, they weren't getting anywhere and she just wanted to go back home. "This was a mistake—talking to you not Antonio. I'll just have to tell Charlie that we should go back to the witches and figure out how to undo some of what you did."

"Witches? You went to _them_? Have you lost your mind?"

"Charlie was with me, and he knows what he's doing most of the time. He was smart enough to pull me away from her when I lost my mind for a moment and insisted that she fix me. I'm not _stupid_ , but finding out that someone who was supposed to care for me, who _took_ care of me while my parents were to busy for me, would do that to me? I think this might _hurt_ more than my parents kicking me out." Santana snaps angrily. Her stomach churned with rage, and she can't help but swallow the molten lump in her throat as she blinks back tears. "I don't have time for this—what did you do to me? Charlie will figure out how to undo it, or at the very least allow me to _share_ in the experience that you took from me."

Alma studied her granddaughter for a moment. For a brief moment, she felt _something_ akin to guilt but she knew deep down in her heart that she had done the right thing. "I didn't go to a _witch_ , I certainly wouldn't find a _magician_ who wanted to do what I needed them to do. I went to a _bruja_ , they are _different_ to the American _witches_ , the magic is different. I don't know what they did to you. I never asked, I didn't want anything to do with it."

"You didn't want—you just left me in the care of a _bruja_? Without making sure that they weren't doing something _sinister_ to me? How _irresponsible_ were you?"

"Don't be dramatic Santana. Of course, I didn't leave you alone, I simply mean that I did not study that type of magic. I asked if it was possible, and they said it was. I paid _plenty_ , in fact until recently, I was still paying. The bruja that bound your abilities is _dead_ , and what I do know is that the consequences of unbinding them will be _unpleasant_."

"So, I came all the way out here only for you to tell me that you _don't_ know? Don't you have _anything_? Do you remember the chant? Any hand gestures, any dead animals? Surely you remember something." Charlie would probably be able to work backwards or find _someone_ who could figure it out.

"I can't remember," Alma admitted honestly. "I was more concerned with how you twisted and writhed in my arms. You may _think_ that I was cruel and perhaps I should have found another way. Perhaps I should have explained it to you, so you understood what to do in the eventuality that Antonio showed abilities but I never thought it was possible. The bloodline has been _diluted_ greatly. Your _father_ didn't have any abilities but what I sensed in you—I _know_ I did the right thing no matter how you feel about the matter."

"If they had abandoned me, you could have taken me in. You could have raised me, you could have found _someone_. You have to know where the council _headquarters_ are, so don't give me that load of shit. This wasn't about _protecting me_. I know you, this was either because you were _scared_ or perhaps this was just a petty reason, and you were jealous that I _got_ the magic gene and it _clearly_ skipped you." Santana sneered before turning around and opening the door. She storms out of it, making sure to slam the door on the way out.

Taking a shaky breath, she swallows and walks to the car that she rented. It would be a long drive back and she wasn't sure how she felt about this. She had realized that her family was filled with terrible people, but now that she was forced to take a look at them. Perhaps the kindest thing that they had done was kicking her out. Who knew where she would be if she had done what they had wanted.


	64. Chapter 64

"Is it really made from _dragon silk_? What's that? Can Spot make dragon silk?" Antonio asked as he held Charlie's robes tightly against his chest, as they entered the shop.

"No. Spot isn't the type of dragon that makes dragon silk, it's _extremely_ rare. Brittany has been on my case for years to find her one. Unfortunately, it's a controlled animal, probably because there are so few in the world. Brittany would have to fill out a ton of paperwork, to be able to get her hands on one." Charlie mused. He shrugs his shoulders as he watches Antonio pet the fabric.

"Are you going to wear it for mom?" Antonio asked, looking up at Mr. Charlie. He wanted to see what he looked like in it.

"Charlie's going to wear something for me?" Santana asks looking up from where she was scrubbing down one of the displays. It's enough to startle Charlie and Antonio who turn to look up at her. "I got back a while ago and I just felt like cleaning, this place is _filthy_."

"Uh-oh," Antonio mumbles.

"Uh-oh?" Charlie repeats turning to look at the boy who grips on his sleeve and tugs on it. He leans down so Antonio can whisper in his ear.

"When mom is _super_ upset about something she cleans. You're supposed to make her feel better." Antonio nods wisely before letting go of Charlie's sleeve and looking up at his mom. "Mr. Charlie got his Master Robes! So, did Mrs. Quinn."

Santana tilts her head to look at Charlie who was staring at her, "So you're finally considered a master? Congratulations."

"They're made from dragon silk," Antonio informs her holding up the package. "It's _super soft_. Come feel!"

Santana sighed before climbing down the ladder she with the bucket of soapy water and places the bucket on the ground as she removes her yellow gloves. "So, what does this mean?"

Charlie blinks and shrugs, "I stopped paying attention while they talked. The whole thing was rather boring. Quinn probably paid attention, so did Rachel."

Santana narrowed her eyes slightly. "Was I supposed to be there as your assistant?"

"No—maybe? I don't know they didn't even have _food_ there. It was a boring ceremony, and they talked a lot and they handed me these robes. I was supposed to put them on but I just sort of left. They're still doing it, but I needed to make sure that my father wasn't messing up what I had taught Antonio." Charlie shrugged. "I was going to call you to see if you needed me," Charlie said pointing to the phone.

"You know if you carried around a cellphone, none of this would happen?" Santana muses and she's rewarded with a crooked grin from Charlie. It's almost enough to make her feel better, picking at him was always a fun pastime and he didn't seem to mind the attention.

"Then I wouldn't have a good excuse to leave," Charlie pointed out and watched as Antonio shoves the box into Santana's hands.

"See! Super soft!" Antonio says pleased. "Mr. Charlie says if I work really hard and master my magic I'll get one as well. So, I'm going to go work on my drawings for my art class."

Santana watched as he scampered off, "I'm not sure how I feel about you turning my son into a workhorse—he is still a child. He should have friends his own age, he should care about the latest toy craze, I don't know him studying textbooks, he's a child."

"I was certain he was a dwarf," Charlie muses.

Santana turns to him sharply, but he's smiling. "You made a joke?" There's a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"I don't know why you're so surprised I joke all the time," Charlie points out and is promptly rewarded with laughter. He huffs slightly scandalized by her reaction before relaxing and looking at her carefully. "It didn't go well."

Santana frowned at the memory, she didn't want to talk about it. "She went to a bruja, but she doesn't _know_ anything. It was a waste of time. She thinks she did me a favor. I know she didn't, I mean I don't miss it. I don't know what it feels like but I could have, and that bothers me. That she stripped me of my magic _permanently_. She didn't do the research she just trusted some _random_ weirdo with her grandchild. Think about that Charlie? What if they did something else to me? What if they hexed me?"

"A bruja?" Charlie repeated frowning slightly.

"Focus."

"I am," Charlie said crinkling his nose. "I just haven't heard of a bruja before. I'm just surprised is all, one would think that even if she had no abilities she would find a magician to deal with your magic given that you were all living a _mundane_ lifestyle. There is a whole department that is meant to find magician's that pop up." Charlie pointed out and frowned ever so slightly. "So, we need to find this bruja—"

"Dead." Charlie stared at Santana. "I mean I have no reason to doubt her, she seemed almost glad that they were gone. She was paying for it with _cash_. That's how she knew, at least that's what she bargained for. She didn't do the research required, she just found a _bruja_ that could do what she wanted, probably paid them a fortune and kept paying them until they died."

"I mean I'm not exactly well versed in necromancy but I could always find a spell—or I can go to Tina it should be something in her wheelhouse."

"No." Santana said firmly. "No digging up dead bodies, no raising the dead, no more witches and no more hoping to be something that I can never be. I'm not going back to my family Charlie. Hell, if you weren't so bad at it, I'd ask you to turn them into something gross." Santana ran a hand through her hair, and chewed on her bottom lip.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Santana said looking up at him, "I thought you _wanted_ me to do it."

"I thought it would make you happy. But I made a mistake, this hasn't made you happy at all. If anything, it's put you under _far_ more pressure. I didn't want that, I would like for you to be able to do magic like Antonio and like me, so you don't feel left out. That is all I want," Charlie admitted. "So, if you want to keep trying we can, if you want to stop. We can."

Santana snorts at this, "You make it sound _so_ easy."

"You're _probably_ not going to explode," Charlie offers.

It starts as a small chuckle before turning into a giggle and its only moments she's laughing, it's so absurd, that she can't help but laugh. She probably looks crazy at this moment but she _doesn't_ care, and it's only after she starts laughing like a lunatic does she feel Charlie's arms wrap around her. " _Fuck_." She mumbles as she begins to hiccup and cry.

Charlie pats her back gently, "It'll be okay," he promises. "If you really want to do this Santana, we can go see my father. It was a last resort but he is quite familiar with most types of magic. When my mother has just a bit too much to drink she likes to regale us with stories of my father's misspent youth. That's how he managed to convince my mother to marry him, he travelled the world making note of magic studying it in all its forms. It's rather boring in my opinion. I would prefer not to ask him. I know exactly what his price will be."

"A child?"

"Well, _yes_ but it's not like you have to give him one," Charlie sighed. "He'll pick someone, someone who is either pureblood themselves, or close enough."

"Oh." Santana frowned and shakes her head. "No, you're not going to impregnate some random woman, just to make me happy. And your father isn't going to create little magical soldiers for his plans for world domination. Me doing _magic_ isn't worth that. You'll be unhappy, that life you helped create will be miserable and I think I know you well enough that you would probably try and protect that child as much as you possibly could from your father's influence. Especially since I'll never be able to _do_ magic. It's far too great a price." Santana sighs and gently pats him on the chest. "I'll be fine in a few days. I _promise._ "

Charlie nods, and leans in to gently kiss her. "If you need anything. I can take care of Antonio or you know get you dinner."

Santana laughs relaxing for a moment, "Look at you, no cue cards," Santana shook her head and gave him a quick kiss, she makes a move to pull away only for him to stop her and kiss her again. She's surprised when he deepens the kiss and pulls her closer to his body. It takes her a moment to realize that she can feel something against body, and she manages to push him away and glance down at him. "Charlie?"

He frowns and looks down at himself frowning at the bulge in his pants. He wasn't _thrilled_ at all by the turn of events. "Sorry, this is why I fixed it. Now I won't be able to do anything for a few moments."

"You did that for me?"

"Yes. I don't like it. It's uncomfortable most of the time and all I can think about is you the other half of the time. I don't know how _anyone_ gets any work done. It also makes me _feel_ uncomfortable." Charlie bitched, he frowned when Santana began to laugh at him.

"I think I love you," Santana admits with a smile, she leans in and quickly kisses his cheek. "I'm going to go sit with Antonio and make him dinner. You should probably take care of that."

Charlie huffed at this idea and headed to his work bench, he wasn't sure he _liked_ this.


	65. Chapter 65

"Where are you going?"

Santana tilted her head as she fixed up the package that she needed to send out and glanced at Charlie who entered his little workroom, Antonio looked a bit baffled by his abrupt departure. He had done that at least three times today, he rarely said a word, he just got up and left an irritated look on his face. She had an idea what was going on but it was still funny to watch. "Charlie just needs a moment," Santana said quickly before Antonio could get up and follow him. "Besides, it's almost time for bed anyway, so why don't you go clean up and I'll have a chat with Charlie about it alright?"

Antonio sighed but packed his tools, "Is he sick?" He asked.

"That's what I'll check, but I don't want you catching anything if he has it," Santana promised as she headed towards Charlie's little hide away. She plays with the dark curtains for a moment, waiting for Antonio to head upstairs before ducking inside, and looking at Charlie. She couldn't help but bite her lip to keep from laughing as she studied him. He was just _staring_ at himself as if he was attempting to _will_ everything back down. "You okay their champ?" She teases watching as he turns to look at her.

"No," he replies sullenly. "This is why I did what I did! I can't get anything done now Santana and this is all your _fault_."

"My fault?" Santana repeats, in a tone that suggests that if he continues with that train of thought he'd be in trouble. "How is this my fault? You're supposed to be focusing on teaching Antonio how _not_ to blow up his arms. You shouldn't be staring at me and thinking what I can only imagine is sexual thoughts."

"I was thinking about wanting to kiss you!" Charlie insists, scandalized by the very idea that we was doing anything even _remotely_ improper.

"Sure, you were," Santana grins, she didn't want to admit that she was enjoying _this_ far too much. "Look, don't think of me. Just think of someone that you don't find attractive—or you know _Quinn_."

"Why would I think of Quinn? She doesn't make me— _oh_." Charlie said glancing down at himself. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Santana laughed. "You do know if you take care of yourself, this wouldn't be a problem. Once in the morning, or before you go to bed, you know to relieve some of that _pressure_."

Charlie stared at her, he didn't find this amusing. He had spent most of the past few days incredibly flustered, and being around Santana made his head spin. He wasn't quite sure he _liked_ being 'normal.' To make matters worse Brittany had found out. It had taken some heavy bartering to get her not to tell the entire family. Plus, she had handed him some book about sexual positions to help him. The whole thing was rather confusing and he didn't like it. Magic was simple, navigating this minefield? Not so much.

Santana reached up to touch him and blinked when he flinched away, and turned his body away from her. "You know if you had spent your teenage years fixing this. You probably would be fine in figuring this out."

"It was so much easier to take it away!" Charlie grumbled, he flinched again when Santana entered his personal space and immediately backed up. "Go away, you're making it worse!"

Santana ignored him until he was pressed up against the wall before gently grabbing him by the shirt, "I'm just going to give you a kiss, you wanted one, didn't you?" Santana teases tugging him down so she can place a very gentle kiss against his lips. "See? Not so bad, right?" When he leans in to kiss her again she stops him placing her hand firmly on his chest. "No. You need to take care of that, like an _adult_ or everyone else. It'll make you feel better, you need some time for yourself to get acquainted with your body. You've spent the past few years ignoring it, so I don't know— _play_ with it?" Santana sighed when Charlie shot her that scandalized look of his. Trust her to fall in love with a man who didn't like to have sex. She was really going to need to teach him how to love himself. "Charlie, it doesn't make you a bad person if you masturbate."

"I know that. It's just a waste of time."

"Yes, I know, but think about it. You do it, you're able to concentrate. At the very least you won't be popping random boners all day," Santana pointed out. Watching as he thought about it. "I'm going to go see Antonio, by the time I come back you should be done. My suggestion is you do it in your room, you know on your bed. I'll see you when I'm done okay?"

Charlie grumbled but nodded, pulling away from Santana and looking down at his pants. He was going to have to read the book that Brittany had forced him to take. He grumbles and looks at the books on his shelf, he frowned at ugly yellow color and scowled. He wasn't a dummy.

~O~

"Sex for dummies? Really?" Santana snorted, from where she was standing and watching her boyfriend. She smiles at him when he tries to hide the book. She grips the plastic bag in her hand and raises an eyebrow as she studies him. "I know you didn't pick that book up for yourself."

"Brittany," Charlie muttered under his breath. "She could _sense_ it, the frustration. I thought she wasn't able to read anything off me, but she _did_." He frowns as Santana approaches him and takes the book from his grip.

"You don't _need_ this, you just need to get acquainted with your body. Touch it get to know what you like, I know you're not big on the physical touch but I promise it will _probably_ feel good." She puts the plastic bag on the table. "It's not much. Lotion. Tissues. I mean if you actually entered the twenty-first century, I would teach you how to look at some porn."

"Porn?"

"You know naked women? Video of people having sex. I mean none of this is really _real_. It's like how they shoot movies—how do you not know what porn is?"

"Oh, you mean those magazines my father got me and I threw away," Charlie sighed. "I wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to learn from them. Am I just supposed to think of a naked woman and what touch myself to it?"

"That's the _general_ idea," Santana said. "I'm not going to walk you through it Charlie, I'm not that _nice_ and I think it's _important_ that you figure out your own body, and get over your awkward teenager phase. I don't expect you to be amazing your first time with me, but I need you to be okay with what we're doing. If you get cold feet and try to run while we're getting hot and heavy I will not be happy. So, use the lotion, and just I don't know jack off."

"Can't I just do a—"

"No _magic_. Use the lotion and make magic with your hand, in the sexual way not the weird magician way. No magic."

"Just a little—"

"No, Charlie this is perfectly normal, and remember what you told Antonio? Magic will not solve all your problems."

"I _lied_ , you told me to lie! So, he didn't become lazy!" Charlie protests.

"I know, and I thank you for that. But you did say it so now you must live it. Enjoy," Santana said leaning in and kissing his cheek.

Charlie's jaw dropped, he wasn't sure why he even had hired her as an _assistant_. She was meaner than Rachel was. He mutters something under his breath. Now he wasn't sure he could live without her in his life. It was all very troubling to him. " _Fine_ ," he grumbles reaching for the damn lotion that Santana had brought over.

Santana grinned and watched as he unzipped his pants, before closing the door to give him his space. She would ask him about it tomorrow.


	66. Chapter 66

"So. You're a _magician_."

Charlie stopped and stared at Sebastian for a moment, tilting his head slightly. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to respond to that accusation, so instead he nods slowly. "Is my father in."

Sebastian shook his head, Charlie had been the one to drag this weird shit into his life and he wasn't sure how he was going to handle it. "Yeah he is but I need to know that Antonio is going to be alright. I mean you can teach him? Santana says you're teaching him—do you know what you're doing? Are you licensed to teach magic? What do _I_ need to know?"

Charlie stared for a moment, "I don't have a pamphlet."

"Excuse me?"

Charlie sighed, this was why he _needed_ Santana so she could talk to the people he didn't want to talk to. "There isn't a pamphlet for this. You need to sit down with Santana and discuss it with her." Charlie said after a moment, it seemed to be the at _least_ sounded like the right thing to say.

"You are _teaching_ him, right? I should be able to ask you questions. Like—if my son has magic—"

"He gets it from Santana's side," Charlie interrupts. "You need to actually have a conversation with Santana about this. Now I really do need to talk to talk to my father," Charlie said hoping that was enough to excuse himself. He didn't have time to deal with a mundane, especially one who had no name. With that he quickly pulls away and opens the door to his father's office.

"I hear congratulations are in order," Russell says without looking up at his son. "You're finally a master. Your sister wants to have a rather large party, however, I suggested it would be _best_ when Brittany becomes one as well. You just need to convince her to stop playing on her farm."

"It's a sanctuary, and I'm sure you could turn it into some farm and then use that as leverage to blackmail the council if that's what you wanted. You are aware that both Quinn and myself would have to recuse ourselves, Aunt Cassandra simply votes against whatever it is if she believes your hands are somehow involved in it." Charlie says as he takes a seat and places a small bottle onto his father's desk. "Dragon whiskey. It's said to have a drop of dragon's blood in it. I don't know if I trust the dwarves, but I have seen this knock even the heartiest of dwarves out. I took one sip and ended up naked in a desert," Charlie says tapping the ornate glass.

Russell reached for the bottle only for Charlie to pull it back. He sighs and rolls his eyes, "What exactly is it you want?"

"What do you know of _brujas_?" Charlie questioned crossing his legs.

"Please, tell me you aren't going to deal with them? I don't have time to clean up after your messes Charles. A bruja is just another name for witch, the way they do magic is different from American and most European witches. Where they draw their power from—they are still exceptionally dangerous."

"I am aware, and I don't want to do business with one of them I want to undo a spell—"

"You are not a theoretical magician, as much as you play with your teleportation you know at your core you're an elemental," Russell interrupts. "You can create magic but understanding it, that's not something you're capable of doing. I wouldn't touch it if I were you."

"I am a master—"

"As an elemental," Russell says turning back to his work. "What spell do you need to be undone?"

"The one on Santana, the one I'm certain you noticed and never did anything about," Charlie accuses watching as his father's lip twitched upward.

"I don't do magic anymore, and I don't poke around in broken spells. She's not going to _explode_ or anything, but if you tamper with it, that's a distinct possibility. I imagine you're here because you _love_ her—" Russell frowns when Charlie opens his mouth. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't worship the ground she walks on and I'm _happy_ that you undid that terrible spell that bound your sex drive."

Charlie's left eye twitches for a moment and places the glass on the table. "What will it cost me for you to _meddle_?"

"I'm not going to," Russell responds going back to his work. "Somethings are best left as they are. I suggest you forget about this."

"She's supposed to be a seer," Charlie says watching as his father predictably looked at him in surprise. He wasn't that _great_ with people, but he could see his father's gears working in his head. "She won't work for you, she's my assistant, and I want you to leave her out of your schemes."

Russell laughed at this, "Then your answer is _no_. There is nothing you can give me that will make me do this for you. You don't call, you don't visit unless you want something."

"There has to be something you want," Charlie protests.

Russell waits for a moment he could feel his son getting agitated and he turns to look at him, "Why did you undo that silly spell that you put on yourself?"

"I wish to have sex with my girlfriend," Charlie says crossing his arms.

"Why?"

"Why?" Charlie repeats.

"Yes, _why_? I've had the most beautiful women in the _world_ wanting to be with you, and yet you never budged. You still hadn't budged the last time I saw you. You are still insistent that you don't want children."

"I _don't_ want a child. You have two other children. Brittany and Mike have sex all the time, I don't see why you're pinning all your hopes on me. Santana isn't even a pureblood."

Russell studied his son for a moment, "Yes but Antonio is _special_ and he's got half of Sebastian's DNA kicking around in him, which makes him far more special than you realize. Santana is _special_ surely you see it."

"I do," Charlie shrugs. "I suspect what I see isn't what you see though. I want her to be happy, and I want her to _understand_ Antonio—I want her to feel _special_. I want her to stay with me, I don't want to use her as a tool like you wish to. So, what is your price?"

"I want the Fabray line to _continue_. Whether or not you have a child with Santana is not my problem—"

"I will go to mom," Charlie interrupts, watching as Russell scowls. It wasn't a card he played often but he knew his father adored his mother.

"I am not an unreasonable man Charles. I never said I needed one tomorrow or even a year from now. Santana is still young, and you can have kids until you're about to die. Enjoy your life, but that's what I want. I want you to have a child."

Charlie stared at his father his face twisting, before standing up. "I'm not giving you my firstborn son. That's what _witches_ ask for."

Russell rolled his eyes, "You're being dramatic. I'm not asking for your firstborn child for nefarious purposes. I can't imagine that Santana will let me anywhere _near_ her child with you if she thought for a moment that I had grand designs for the child. Despite what you may believe I do _love you_. Blame your mother, she insisted that I carry you and hold you. You spit up all over me multiple times. I will not use your child as a tool for my schemes. So long as you are a bit more _malleable_."

Charlie blinked twice it was a tall order, and he couldn't make this decision unilaterally. "I need to talk to Santana."

"Good, you _should_." Russell informs him bluntly. "Happy wife, happy life," he reminds his son.

"Santana isn't my—"

"You need to start thinking about it. I shouldn't have to tell you these things. It's new now but a year from now, two? If you're still together? Why not?" Russell watches as Charlie thinks about his words before simply turning to leave. He had no idea what he was going to do with the boy. His son wouldn't simply rat him out to Judy either, he knew that much.

~O~

"You did _what_?"

Charlie frowned, Santana seemed annoyed with him. "I went to go see my father—"

"I know that Charlie, I thought we agreed that we were going to table this, I don't need to do magic. My life is _fine._ I just want to put this _awful_ chapter behind me."

"How?" Charlie asks his frown deepening when Santana turns to glare at him. "Antonio does _magic_ , I do magic. If I thought this was something you could simply ignore, I would have left it alone, but I wanted to know if _he_ could. I trust my father more than some random witch."

"You _barely_ trust your father. You think he's attempting to take over the world." Santana snaps at him throwing her hands up in the air.

"My father doesn't want to take over the world, that's ridiculous Santana. I don't know what he wants but it's generally centered around being antagonistic towards the council. I imagine he's still bitter that he was denied the robes. They _really_ don't like him." Charlie explained and shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted to see if he could _do_ something, and he suggested that _he_ could but there is a cost. And I said that I needed to talk to you before I signed the rest of my life to being my father's errand boy."

Santana scowled and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Charlie, I need you to know that you can't just go behind my back. We should have talked about this. I know all this is _new_ to you, being a boyfriend, but you wouldn't like it if I went behind your back and talked about an important decision without you." She watched as he crinkled his nose, and she knew _he_ understood. She sighs and reaches for his arm, "No more going behind my back alright?" Charlie nods and she shakes her head and looks at him. "Now, let's talk about what your father said. He wants you to work for him?"

"Yes, he wants me to go along with his plans without much complaint," Charlie frowned and shrugged. "I don't _mind_ doing a few more things for him, if it makes you happy."

"The last time your father came to ask you for a favor you were gone for six months. I couldn't _call_ you, I couldn't reach you. So, that's not an _actual_ option," Santana shakes her head. "You're not going. I like having you around, I mean you _are_ technically my boss and you are my boyfriend. Plus, Antonio misses you like crazy. So now that we've decided that you _aren't_ going to sell your soul to your father we can go back to _other_ things—"

"I'm not finished, he also said that _he_ wanted a grandchild," Charlie said wincing. "He knew that I had removed the spell, just like _he_ knew that you had a spell on you. It's his _discipline_ and he's eerily good at it." Charlie admitted.

"Charlie, you can barely masturbate—"

"I _have_ , I just find the whole thing to be messy," Charlie insists crossing his arms over his chest.

"Not the point, I'm saying you wouldn't be able to do it in a cup—"

"With you, he wants me to have a child with you. At the very least he won't push the _cup_ bit anymore."

Santana paused for a moment, it was a lot to take in. "I—I'm sorry, you want to—with me? You don't _like_ babies and that _certainly_ isn't something you just—" Santana took a step back and inhaled. "We're going to have a chat with your _father_."

"I know you shouldn't have a _child_ for those reasons. I still don't trust babies—but—I've been thinking about my relationship with Antonio and I realize that it's just as important as _our_ relationship. I _enjoy_ spending time with him, and teaching him and I get happy when he succeeds and I feel _something_ when he fails. I don't know if that makes him my son, but I think I want to be—not my father."

Santana nods, he had stumbled over the words but she _understood_ what he wanted. "We haven't even had _sex_ yet Charlie. I mean we've not been dating for _that_ long. It's way too soon to be thinking of children—I mean, I'm not even sure—that I want another child. I mean I have Antonio and the last time I was pregnant, well it wasn't a _pleasant_ experience. But something we'll talk about later. Your father _will_ not _bully you_ let alone me into giving him some _grandchildren_. If we make a decision to have children _then_ that's our decision." Santana said, now she _saw_ what Charlie meant when he discussed his father.


	67. Chapter 67

"You know you just can't barge in here whenever you _want,_ right? Mr. Fabray is a very busy man and you really should start making appointments just like everyone else," Sebastian said standing up and making a move to block Santana from marching directly into Russell Fabray's office.

Santana stops, causing Charlie to ram into her from behind and it causes her to stumble forward. "Seriously? Is this the hill you want to die on?" Santana snaps back at him.

Sebastian blinked he recognized that look, she was on a warpath and he looks over at Charlie who doesn't have the good sense to look terrified. "This is my _job_ Santana, and I'm tired of getting chewed out every time you feel like stopping by. It's my _job_ to do this. Just like it's _your_ job to explain what's going on with _our_ son."

Santana stared, "Seriously? You're bringing this up now?"

"You've ignored every text that I've sent!"

"If you want to talk about this, then come over. There's nothing in the store that can kill you."

" _Well—_ " Charlie says, wincing when Santana steps on his toes.

"Look, it's _not_ a conversation we're having over the phone. Antonio is still _Antonio_. We can have this discussion over dinner or something. If you think you can't handle this, then you need to be upfront and just tell me. So, while you think about that, Charlie and I need to have a chat with Russell Fabray." Santana said as she pushed past him. She turned and grabbed Charlie's arm tugging him along.

Charlie shrugged as he walked past Sebastian, Santana seemed to be very _determined_. He personally thought that this conversation could _wait_ , but with Antonio at his art classes, he hadn't much of a choice. "Santana, he's not going anywhere," Charlie reminded Santana who continued to grip his arm as she tugged him along.

"If he was smart, he'd be figuring a way out of that damn office of his." Santana muttered in response.

Charlie nods in response, "We're back," he said, announcing their presence to his father who looked up at them before going back to his work.

"I see you talked to her," Russell glanced up at Santana for a moment. "I can't imagine what he said to you or _how_ he said it but I think I'm being quite _fair_. I'm an old man."

"You don't look a day over forty, Charlie looks like he's in his early twenties, you live longer lives than most mundanes do—so don't give me that _bullshit_." Santana snaps at him. "You also have two other children, and it's not as if Mike doesn't come from a magical family. So, it's in his DNA."

"Santana, I like you. Half the time I like you more than my own son. I think that this _union_ , even if it had started off as a way to get me and Judy to back off, I do _approve_. Considering who the other two chose, you have no idea how much I approve." Russell said glancing at Charlie who had decided to make himself comfortable on his couch. "I also pointed out that this doesn't need to even concern you, I was never demanding that you get pregnant. I am hardly a barbarian."

Santana scoffed, "I think you're worse than a barbarian. You're basically planning to sell your son's semen to the highest bidder. And I know your son well enough that he would want to be part of that child's life. Thus, putting me in an awkward position."

"Don't be crass, I'm not going to sell it for money. I have more than enough of that. I trade in information and I trade in favors, and there are many families that wish to have a drop of the Fabray bloodline running through it."

"You do realize that you're _also_ male, right? I mean if that's all you care about just tell your wife that you plan to impregnate half the magician population," Santana sneered.

"He already tried that," Charlie spoke up. Causing both Santana and Russell to turn to him. He shrugs, "People talk, and I didn't think it was _any_ of my business." He tilted his head for a moment and studied his father, it was the first time he had seen anything other than cool indifference on his face. "Mom doesn't know?"

Russell leaned back, he had no idea how Charlie had even stumbled onto the knowledge his son generally kept things close to his chest, and he was sure that half the time that Charlie didn't even know what to do with the knowledge he had. "No, your mother doesn't know."

"Wait—" Santana said holding her hands up, Charlie had this information and hadn't bothered to share it. "You're cheating on Judy?"

"Past tense," Russell said with a shrug. "I stopped, if you think that you can threaten me with it—he would never allow it," Russell gestures to his son. "You're not the only one who knows him. I told you he was always a mama's boy."

"There's nothing wrong with a son loving his mother," Santana retorted rushing to Charlie's defense. She didn't even need to see if it bothered him. "Look this is what's going to happen, I don't actually need to be a seer. I don't know if my life is going to be better because of it, and I like my life now. I _like_ who I am now. I certainly am not going to allow Charlie to make a deal with you where you use him as a champion bull to impregnate a bunch of women with dusty old eggs. You are _also_ not taking him away from _me_ for months at a time so he can be your little bitch boy. And if we _do_ have children, which is completely up in the air at this point, I will make it so that you have absolutely no contact with them. That includes Antonio."

"He came asking me for a favor, I told him what that favor would cost. Magic has a price, and I laid out exactly what the price of this would be. I am not holding a gun to your head, I am not _forcing_ you to go through with it. I simply laid out my terms, it's completely up to you whether you agree or not."

"Well then we don't agree. I don't want to be a seer that badly, I am _not_ going to blow up this little family unit that we've formed. I'm not that selfish."

Russell tilted his head, "You are aware that this entire conversation could have been had over the phone. I know he—" Russell nods towards his son. "Doesn't know how to use one. But you do. Though, you make a very valid point. You are the one that it's going to be affecting, I can always make a deal with you."

"No," Charlie said immediately frowning at the thought. "I'm fine when you put me in dangerous situations. I'm an _elemental_. I have a decent grasp of magical theory. Sure, there have been a few sticky situations, but I was taught by Roz Washington who tortured me for _fun_. There have also been situations where I knew it had your hands all over it. I haven't said anything because I would rather do it then you sending Quinn or Brittany. But, now I have a family of my own—at least for _right_ now and I think I need to be _better_ for them. I need to think about their needs because I _love her_. She is one of the most important people in my life right now and I need to protect them from people like you." Charlie says forcefully. He turns to Santana, "I think it's time we go pick up Antonio now."

Santana nods, grabbing her purse. "I think you're right. Goodbye Russell."

Russell leans back in his chair, before nodding at the two of them. "I am hardly the villain that you think I am. The things I ask you to do Charles is to protect the gift that you love so much. If I could trust anyone else to do it I would ask them. However, I can see that nothing I say will change your mind so you're free to take your leave." He said dismissively.

Santana flicked her eyes over to Charlie, "You were right your father is a _dick_."

Russell brushed off the insult, as far as he was concerned he had won. They would give him exactly what he wanted. He looks down at the doodle that he had drawn while he had talked to them, undoing parts of the spell to make Santana a seer would be _tricky_ , even for him, and it would take far more power than he had. Still he was going to get everything he wanted, and all he had to do was create a bit of drama to get his son to act like the _man_ he wanted him to be.


	68. Chapter 68

Santana bit her lip as she stared at Charlie's door. She felt _ridiculous._ She wasn't a teenager anymore and Charlie wasn't Sebastian. He wasn't just going to abandon her. Even if she did get pregnant, she was certain that he'd just refuse to have sex with her again, and she was certain that she could definitely talk him out of that.

Exhaling slowly, she lifts her hand up and knocks on the door. She waits a moment, usually it swings open but when it doesn't she hesitates. He could be in the middle of some powerful magic, and she just needed to leave him alone. But if she left now things would certainly go back to the holding pattern that they were in, and she needed to move the relationship forward. She pushes the door open gently and takes a quick look inside but all she hears is the shower running, which probably meant that he wasn't doing anything dangerous.

She takes a step inside debating how to set this whole thing up. Should she be naked on his couch waiting for him? Hop into the shower with him? He was rather skittish, and she didn't want him to end up slipping and cracking his head open. Maybe she should just steal his towels and let him try and find them. There were so many options. He was a bottomless pit, maybe she should have brought some food—

"Santana? Is everything okay?" Charlie asks adjusting his towel around him.

"Shush Charlie, I'm trying to figure out how to seduce you," Santana retorts before pausing and thinking about what she had just said. She looks up and takes a step backwards when she spots him staring at her. His gaze had never been particularly sharp but he did seem to notice most things when he was paying attention and he was certainly paying attention now. "I mean—we need to talk about things—today."

"Can I put on some clothes first?"

"No. This is fine—you're fine—I mean how often do you work out?"

Charlie grips his towel tighter and looks down at himself, "Every morning, before breakfast, the stronger I am physically the more magical stamina I have. I have quite a bit stored up naturally, but given my other job it's best to keep myself in the picture of health. Antonio is far too young to think about such things but when he's a bit older we'll work on it if he wants."

"Stop, we're not talking about Antonio now while you're _nearly_ naked. It's weird," Santana said narrowing her eyes slightly at him. "I just—" Santana turns around she couldn't look at him while there were still drops of water running down his body. "You said you loved me to your father today."

"I did," Charlie agrees.

"Was that just to make a point or were you saying—"

"I meant what I said Santana, I love you," Charlie said firmly.

"Oh."

"Can I get dressed now?'

"Not yet," Santana said with a frown. "This thing—how you feel that's _good_. I mean I'm _happy_ for you. But this can't be something you do to be normal. I'm not a fling and—I hope that means you're ready to take this relationship to the next level. I just mean sex, because I think I'm ready. I just worry about what you're not. Sex is important Charlie." With that she finally turns to face Charlie.

"I am, at least I want to with you. That's if you want to—it says consent is very important in the book."

"Sex for dummies?" Santana chuckles at this and takes a step towards him. "Okay. I'm not going to make fun of you for using that book, so long as you lose that towel so I can see what I'm working with."

Charlie gripped his towel tighter for a moment, taking a nervous step back for a moment before swallowing and letting go of the towel fall to the ground. "I don't imagine that I'll be very good Santana. I don't actually know what I'm doing and I thought about using magic—"

"Magic? Charlie we've talked about this you can't use magic for all life's problems. I mean sure we can do that later but you really need to work on just regular mundane sex."

"No magic?"

"You can use a birth control spell but that's about it," Santana said watching him, she takes a quick look down to see what she was working with and bites her lip. She could _certainly_ work with what he was packing.

"Oh, I put that spell on ages ago—" Charlie practically jumps back his back colliding against the wall when Santana's hand brushes along his dick. "I just—I mean Santana—what are you doing?"

Santana shoots him an amused look as she takes a step forward pinning him down for a moment. She was fine with taking charge, but she needed to calm him down before she did anything. So instead she pulls him down so she can kiss him, deeply. He immediately responds and it only takes a moment before she feels his hand on her hips pulling her closer, seemingly forgetting that he was naked. She moves carefully shedding her shirt and guiding his hands upward. "It's okay to touch me," she mumbles against his lips. "In fact, I want you too."

Charlie nod, hesitant at first but he finally begins to move his hands upwards pausing just before he reaches her breasts and pulls away slightly. "We should—I should—" he begins stuttering over his words and flushes embarrassed. It was so hard to think right now and he was certain that Santana had finally cast her own magical spell on him because he couldn't remember anything at this exact moment. "Bed?" He offers lamely his embarrassment growing when Santana laughs. Maybe they were supposed to do it standing up, it was one of the positions in the book that Brittany had dropped off.

"Alright let's go to bed, I don't think I've ever seen your room before," Santana said thinking back. The few times she had caught Charlie sleeping it was always on his couch. "You do have a bed, right?"

Charlie nods and manages to maneuver away from Santana, and take a deep breath before moving to his bedroom, he pauses staring at it. He hadn't been in the room in _months_ and he certainly hadn't _cleaned_.

Santana shifts so she can take a look, "Oh I think I see your bed," she says teasingly. There were _books_ everywhere, and a few empty cages as well. At least she _hoped_ they were empty. "Charlie? When I ask you to clean up do you just _dump_ things in your room?"

"Yes? It's storage."

"Well, how are we supposed to have sex?" Santana presses. "I don't actually trust anything to not slither out and bite me."

"There's nothing in the cages— _I think."_

"Ringing endorsement, okay here's what we're going to do. I'm going to lead you back to your _couch_ and we're going to have sex, tomorrow instead of doing what you had planned you're going to have to clean this mess up." Santana said shaking her head, she grabs him by the arm and pulls him towards his living room. Using the time to slip out of her own pants and letting them drop. She can feel him stumble behind her and she can't help but smile. She still _has_ it. There had been a part of her that worried about how she looked but Charlie seemed to like her body just as it was. She takes a seat on his couch.

Charlie takes a seat beside her, unsure what to do. Magic was _simple_ compared to this. He didn't know what to do with his hands. He didn't know how to please Santana sexually, he barely had the basics down and he was sure that he would be disappointing. "I should apologize in advance I think—" Charlie blinked as Santana closed the gap between them and kissed him deeply.

"Shush," Santana informed him bluntly moving to straddle him feeling him against her, but she uses the moment to kiss him and she moves his hands so that they're on her breasts and she waits until she feels him squeeze gently. It's only a few awkward moments until he's playing with them. It's a bit rough and awkward but it was his first time. She'd seen what he was capable with his hands and she knew he'd learn how to handle her body soon enough.

He knew the basics; the foreplay was important but he wasn't quite sure what to do next. Was he allowed to touch her down there, the book had detailed fingering and he was sure he'd be better at that then the actual sex part. He adjusts himself slightly before deciding to just do it, Santana had given him permission to touch her. He blinks slightly feeling the wetness and he can feel Santana break the kiss to look at him in surprise. "I just—" he begins to move his hand away only for Santana to stop him.

"I want you to, I was hoping you would," she admits.

Charlie hesitates for a second before going back and touching her feeling her wetness. He feels her gasp but he continues touching her slowly at first before allowing a finger to slide in. He begins to slide in and out at a slow pace, getting used to the sensation. It was foreign and he had stuck his fingers into many things before. He adds another finger after a moment which causes Santana to let out a low moan. With his curiosity now piqued he quickly adjusts them so Santana is underneath him as he continues to move his fingers around, trying to elicit gasps and moans of pleasure from Santana.

Santana gripped his shoulder tightly, she had no idea what he was doing with his fingers but it felt good, really good. Sure, there was an awkward pause every now and again as he tried to do something new but she had been right. His strength probably would be in his fingers, " _Shit_ —Charlie," she grunts looking up at him. He had a look of concentration on his face that would be funny if it wasn't sweet and weird. Something that Charlie was in spades. She tilts her head back to enjoy the sensations and let him push her body towards the orgasm that is quickly coming. It had been _awhile_ for her as well.

Charlie pulled his fingers away and adjusts himself, now seemed like a good time to simply slide it in. He wraps his hands around his member and slowly lines it up before pushing it in. There was a bit of resistance but that quickly passes as he pushes his length into her. He looks up at her carefully his body tense, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, wow—just it's been a while give me a moment," Santana says swallowing, she felt full and she was slightly disappointed his fingers had stopped doing what they were doing. "How does it feel to be no longer a virgin?"

Charlie blinked, he didn't feel any different, "I think I like this—with you. It feels really good," he admits. He waits for a few more moments before swallowing, "Can I start?"

"Yeah—just take your time," Santana suggests. He didn't exactly have the control and she wanted to share this moment with him. She wanted to feel him for a while longer.

Charlie nods and goes slowly pulling himself out before sliding back in again, he closes his eyes at the pleasure he feels from the action. It felt _wonderful_. Much better than his hand and the lotion. He begins to move his hips a bit faster trying to get those lovely sounds Santana had been making before. He angles his hips as the pressure builds slightly. It feels really good and he moves his hips a bit faster.

It takes her a moment to realize that Charlie was close, and she's tempted to stop him but it was his first time and he looked really into the moment. She doesn't quite have the heart to stop him, as his body tenses up for a moment before he shudders. Instead she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his cheek as he pants on top of her. "We're not done," she mumbles against him.

"We're not?" Charlie asks looking at her. He felt _done_.

"Don't you want to do it again?" Santana asks after a moment smiling when Charlie nods. He'd probably last longer this time. "Now it's my turn," she says kissing him as she pushes him onto his back and straddles his waist again. There was a lot to teach him and not enough time.

~O~

Santana grinned as she finally curled into Charlie he was covered in sweat, he had been better the second time and even better on the third round and she was left feeling satisfied—for _now_. "You okay?" She asks turning over to look at Charlie who was staring at the ceiling an odd look on his face.

"I— _wow_."

Santana laughs, "That was sex, don't worry you'll keep getting better with practice."

"It felt like magic," Charlie explains.

Santana rolled her eyes, well he probably wouldn't be running away from her anytime soon. "Okay so we had sex, it's a _thing_ that adults do when they're in a relationship. The most important thing after you have sex is—" Santana feels his arms wrap around her waist and she can't help but smile. "You're learning."

"We'll do this, again right?" Charlie asks pulling her closer.

Santana rolls her eyes, he was hooked and if it was anything like kissing him he'd be a savant in no time. "When Antonio's asleep or busy," Santana mumbles against his lips as she kisses him.

Charlie smiles as he kisses back, "Well he's still asleep now—" he prompts causing Santana to laugh. "What? He is!"

"Can you even get it up again?" Santana asks pointing down and causing him to pout. "Remember no magic. At least not today."

Charlie sighs, "We'll do it again tomorrow," he announces as Santana laughs harder at him. Well, she didn't say no.


	69. Chapter 69

**AN: We are nearly done, I don't know what's next but I do have some stories that are completed. Need those reviews, reviews mean people's reading, people reading means that I'll put up another story up soon. A few short stories for now.**

* * *

"Every child needs their own pet dragon," Antonio muttered mostly to himself as he looked over at Spot, who was currently laying on her large rock. His mother hadn't been thrilled that she seemed to be growing as fast as he was. She was now the size of a medium-sized dog. He was probably going to get in trouble for this but he had learned, especially with Charlie it was better to ask _forgiveness_ than permission. Charlie was a _terrible_ authority figure unless his mother was around. So, he would just have to eat the punishment but he wanted to have the magic down before the baby came.

He flips through the basic book of summoning that he'd been given in class, he was _way_ past this. Charlie had taught him _everything_ and he kind of liked being the smartest kid in class. He finds a picture of a small baby dragon and grins. There were two ways that he could do this, a traditional summoning method or he could sketch it and summon it. Though his sketches were something that Charlie seemed to easily get rid of. He still hadn't figured out how to make them sturdier.

"Okay, so just like Mr.— _dad_ did it," Antonio corrects himself. It was a force of habit, but Charlie was going to _be_ his father. Right after they got married, they still hadn't picked out a date, and he had to worry about his soon to be father. Charlie probably thought that his job was done once he handed over the ring, but personally Antonio _doubted_ that his mom would let him off the hook that easy.

Spot tilts her head to look at him blowing smoke in his face before lying back down.

Antonio coughs and scowls at his pet dragon before grabbing the summoning chalk and drawing a circle. It had to be _perfect,_ perfect for the perfect little brother or sister that he was getting. It had only taken him _months_ of dropping hints to his mom and Charlie for them to get it through their heads that he wanted a little magical minion to boss around. He wanted to be able to teach his little minion magic like Charlie had taught him. "Okay so what were the spell words again—"

" _Antonio!_ You had better not be summoning a dragon in there."

Antonio froze and looked at his closed door, he had been _super_ quiet and he had barely said anything. Since when was his mother's third eye that _good_? "Nope! Just—studying! I have a test soon remember?" He lies closing the book and throwing the summoning chalk under his bed he tries to wipe the chalk away. "Shit—"

" _Swearing too_!"

Antonio shudders, he should have done this at Sebastian's place. His father didn't really _care_ much about this magic stuff just as long as it didn't destroy his fancy shit. "Sorry! Sorry!" He calls out as his mother opens the door. She was clearly in a mood, which probably meant that this was all Charlie's fault. "What he do this time?"

"He didn't do anything. I can _smell_ magic. I live in a magical household with a magician and a magician in training, and I can _smell_ magic. It's not _Charlie's_ fault—"

"I thought that this whole mess _was_ Charlie's fault?" Antonio says unhelpfully.

"You were the one that insisted that you wanted a sibling and you're the one that _convinced_ him that it was a good idea. I was happy when he still didn't trust _babies_ ," Santana reminds her son. This was _his_ fault. All this talk about babies, and he certainly wouldn't be the one waking up in the middle of the night to put her back to sleep.

"Right—but think about it! We're going to be a bigger family, I hope it's a brother. I mean just think of how cool that will be?" Antonio said getting up to touch his mother's growing belly. He's immediately swatted.

"Don't touch," Santana barks at him. She only felt bad for a moment until Antonio grinned at her. He was the _worst_ , she couldn't believe that once upon a time she had thought that he was the best child in the world. She personally had no idea where he had gotten his mischievous side. Sebastian was just an asshole, Charlie followed all her rules to the letter. She was tempted to blame the rest of the Fabray clan but Antonio didn't spend as much time with Brittany and Quinn as he used to. "Charlie's running errands, he's gone to get me some antacid. I had to tell him which brand I wanted, so at the very least he's being helpful. You're not even allowed to do complicated summoning's without an _adult_ present."

"You're present," Antonio points out and stumbles over Spot as he tries to dodge another swat. "I just wanted to get a present ready for my kid brother or sister, I mean this is a _big_ deal, right? We're going to be _moving_. You're getting married. I mean _who knows_ how many more kids you're going to have."

"One. Just the one. Charlie doesn't think that the little people should outnumber us. I agreed with him," Santana said briskly. The last thing they needed was an army of little people armed with the power to blow a hole through the fabric of reality. Antonio wasn't exactly the most responsible pre-teen when it came to using his magic. She grimaces as her stomach gurgles once more, the headaches, the heartburn, the tingly feeling in her fingers that Judy _swore_ would disappear hadn't. Antonio had been a far easier baby to take care of. "I think I need to sit."

Antonio rushes to his mother's aid, "Is the baby coming? Do I need to call—"

"Antonio, I'm only five months along. It's just the damn headache and dizzy spells that I've been getting. Judy and the doctors that I have said that I don't have any of the signs of preeclampsia, and my vitals were well within the normal range. But, something _isn't_ right. I've been pregnant before and this—I don't know what's going on with my body. It was easier the first time, I thought that this was _supposed_ to get easier." When Antonio gives her a blank look, suggesting that he had no idea what she was talking about, she can only sigh. "The baby isn't coming Antonio."

"Oh." Antonio scratched his cheek.

"It's just that I smell _magic_ everywhere. All the time, I know that we live under a damn magic shop but Charlie's been very good about the whole thing. He doesn't even do magic around me anymore, he's never heard of any _human_ who could smell magic." She was more concerned that Charlie found her fascinating because of it. Charlie was still _odd_.

"Well—what if you're doing magic or the baby is?" Antonio offered. "We learned about it in genealogy, Charlie says it's a useless class but we can trace back his family line _nearly_ a thousand years."

"Focus Antonio," Santana sighed, he would do this all the time get distracted by something he learned in class and she'd be forced to listen to him go on about it like Charlie did.

"Right— _um_ , sometimes if the baby is a pure-blood, it can start manifesting magic in the womb," Antonio recites and grins at his mom.

"Except, the baby isn't a _pure-_ blood remember? I'm not a pureblood, in fact by Charlie's count I'm only about a quarter magical."

"Yeah, but you're _powerful_ , that's why I'm so powerful," Antonio points out. "Your magic is just _bound_."

Santana pauses for a moment and stares at Antonio, he had a point. She shifts and heads to her room as quickly as she could, gritting her teeth. She _had_ no idea why she had agreed to this. She _hated_ being pregnant. Sure, she'd love her child but being _pregnant_ wasn't for her. She opens her nightstand and pulls out the first gift Charlie had ever given to her and slides them on, feeling the small headache as she moves to take a look at herself in her mirror. Well that _certainly_ explained the smell of magic that had been haunting her. She was covered in a pale reddish hue. "Well, _shit_." She muttered mostly to herself this wasn't supposed to be _happening_.

"Language!" Antonio shouts grinning when his mother glares at him. "Well?"

"I'm surrounded by _magic_. No wonder I can smell it _all the time_." Santana bitched. How could Charlie not have noticed? It was all _over_ her.

"Cool—see if you can do magic, try the shield spell you still remember that one, don't you?" Antonio prompted, "Don't worry I know how to do that one _really_ well, so you won't be unsupervised. Charlie shoots me with lightning—"

"He does what?" Santana turns to him.

"Don't worry it doesn't _hurt_! And it's just to make sure my shields are strong!" Antonio insists.

"He shouldn't be shooting anyone with lightning he could accidentally _kill_ you! What is he thinking? I thought I didn't have to supervise you two anymore, clearly I need to carve out time in my busy days to make sure you two aren't trying to kill each other."

"We're not I promise! But try it, I mean it probably won't work, right?"

Santana hesitated, Antonio was just eleven and apparently allowed Charlie to shoot lightning at him, which made her question his general intelligence. But he was probably right and nothing would have happened. She sighs and twists her fingers like she had seen Antonio practice a _million_ times. She mutters the magic spell word under her breath and almost immediately she regrets it when she _feels_ a strong _pulling_ sensation that nearly knocks her off her feet. Almost immediately she moves her hand to her stomach, the sensation had come from deep within her belly.

"Mom—you're doing it!" Antonio says practically vibrating with excitement.

It's enough to make her look up only for a moment, she doesn't need the glasses to see the shield surrounding her. She reaches to touch it for a moment, and the action causes the magical shield to pop cracking the bathroom glass and sending Antonio flying backwards. She turns to make sure he's okay only for her legs to suddenly give way and she stumbles to the ground, using her hands to catch herself. It's a moment later before she feels a heaviness in her hands and eyes as the exhaustion hits like a ton of bricks. "Antonio," she mumbles as she slowly curls up on the ground. She thinks she hears him yelling for her but everything is going black.


	70. Chapter 70

Charlie tilted his head slightly when he noticed Santana starting to stir, and he shifts so he can sit beside her his hand still firmly on her hand. "Are you okay?"

Almost immediately Santana tries to sit up, only to have Charlie pushing her back down. "Antonio—"

"Is fine, he's okay. He's currently doing _homework_ , or something. Probably attempting to summon a dragon as we speak. My mother looked him over, just a small cut. The moment I felt a foreign magic in the building I raced back home. Antonio told me what happened. He told me everything he could remember, and I had my mother run every possible test that she could think of, and then those that she _probably_ didn't need to do. She wasn't exactly thrilled—"

"And?"

"She didn't see anything wrong. But you were right there is something not _quite_ right with this situation. Antonio talked about genealogy but I have to admit I wasn't listening, I was more concerned with the fact that you weren't conscious." Charlie admitted. "I read most of the books my parents have given me but there is nothing in there about your ability to do magic."

Santana blinks and reaches to touch the stubble on his chin, "How long have I been out?"

"Two days," Charlie admits, holding his hands up. "That's _normal_ , it's like when you accidentally drained me all those years back. You _used_ magic and just like last time you don't know how to take just what you need and make it work." Charlie shakes his head, he needed to focus on the _actual_ problem. "You're probably hungry," he says after a moment.

Santana blinks twice before her stomach growls angrily and the hunger pangs begin to wrack her body, "I've been out for two days? Charlie are you sure the baby—"

Charlie nods firmly, "She's fine."

"She?" Santana frowns, it was supposed to be a surprise. They had agreed that they would be surprised.

"I'm sorry, my mom let it out, while she was working with you. I forgave her, given the circumstances using a pronoun was faster than referring to her as _the baby_. I wanted to hide it from you but it's difficult once you know," Charlie makes a face.

Santana nods, that made sense. Judy wasn't exactly a _professional_ , but it wasn't as if she could go to a _normal_ doctor and explain that she had a magical being inside of her. It was a sure way to the looney bin. She still went like _normal_ but for all things magical that was all Judy. "It's okay—" her stomach growls again loudly and she clutches it. "Food Charlie. I think we can discuss this over food."

Charlie nods and pushes the bag of chips he'd been eating towards her, wincing when Santana snatches it from him and begins to stuff her mouth with it. He picks up his phone and texts him to get the usual. He'd been using him as a delivery service for the past two days, but he could hardly care at this point. "I'll have Antonio run down to the diner and pick us up the _usual_."

"Make it double," Santana barks at him. She felt like she could sit down and eat a horse. A very large horse. Her stomach growls again and she reaches into the bag of chips and takes a bite groaning as the flavor hits her stomach. "Is this how you feel _all_ the time?"

"Yes," Charlie said as he watched her. "It's like there is a pit and I can't fill it. I've learned to take what I need, and work with that. Antonio is far luckier his stores are considerably more finite. I imagine when he starts going through the _bodily_ changes you made me and Sebastian talk to him about, his appetite will increase dramatically."

"Great, it's already painful to feed you, having three of you is going to put us in the poorhouse," Santana muttered under her breath before pausing for a moment and looking down at her belly for a moment. "How the hell am I supposed to feed her?"

"The same way you fed Antonio?"

"Antonio couldn't do magic and breast feeding was fucking difficult, but I couldn't really afford the formula," Santana said staring at him as she munched another chip. "I mean I can now, but how much formula is she going to eat?"

Charlie shrugged.

"I thought you read the books!" Santana said accusingly.

"There were a _lot_ of pictures of babies in there and you know how I feel about them," Charlie replies.

"I'm _having_ your baby! It was _your_ idea."

"Well, no it was _Antonio's_ idea. You thought it was a good idea and you asked me and I couldn't say no to you. You said we had to have a _lot of_ sex and I didn't see anything wrong with that," Charlie argues back.

"Do we _really_ need to go to those damn birthing classes that your sisters signed us up for? Or the parenting class your parents signed _you_ up for?" Her head _pounded_ as she thought of the wasted time that was. She had successfully managed to keep Antonio alive for eleven years, despite his fondness for doing reckless things. Charlie on the other hand had zero experience and was generally behind Antonio's reckless disregard for his own safety. "Yes, we do," she says answering her own question.

"I think I can handle a baby Santana."

"You think they're miniature humans who are out to get you. We're not having this discussion," Santana sighs as she finishes the last of the chips and looks around for more food. "I mean with what's going on with my body and the baby having magic—"

"I think I noted that I don't think you used the _babies_ magic, it's there we always knew that might be a possibility with Fabray genetics running through her body. However, the baby was _fine_ , her heartbeat was just as strong as it's always been, she's still moving around in there if you had used her magic—it wouldn't have been _good_. I think you used _your_ magic, which is why _you're_ exhausted. I mean I don't know how to check and I can't see _magic_ but I do know someone who can."

"We are _not_ going to see Russell," Santana said putting her foot down. "The next thing I know you'll be in Antarctica leaving me to take care of this demon spawn inside of me."

"Don't be silly Santana, there is no demon spawn inside of you. I'm not an incubus, and we certainly didn't conceive down in hell," Charlie mused shaking his head.

"She's already got you wrapped around her fingers, and she's not even born yet. I can't imagine that this will go well," Santana huffed.

"Also, my father has a vested interest in keeping both you and the baby safe he wants the great Fabray line to continue remember, he'll probably do it for free once we explain how worried we are. Remember he gave me a cigar for when the baby is born."

"Which you won't smoke."

"Which I won't smoke," Charlie agreed. He had no idea why he would even inhale that into his body. "But he's _happy_. It's all he can talk about Santana, normally I'd agree with you but I don't know _how_ to help and if he does try and get me to do something I'll just call my mother and rat him out."

Santana snorted, that would teach Russell something. Judy might be exhausted from all of Charlie's inane questions about how babies were intelligent beings, but she was fiercely overprotective of her future granddaughter. If she so much as sneezed Judy was ready with various remedies to keep her from getting ill. She would bring down fire and brimstone if she thought that Russell was fucking with them or stressing her out. "Deal, but we make sure that Judy knows that we're going to Russell, I'd rather avoid him accusing you of ratting him out."

"Very well," Charlie agrees, before standing up so he could crawl into bed with her. "No more magic until _after_ the baby is born. I don't think I could take it if something happened to you."

"I don't think Antonio would survive into adulthood without me," Santana agrees smiling as he wraps his arms around her and pulls her closer to his body. He smelled a bit, he probably hadn't showered but she didn't mind this time. She leans in placing her ear against his chest and smiles at the steady heartbeat. "Hey Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"I did magic." There's a proud note in her voice.

"How did it feel?" Charlie asks seriously.

"Just as good as you said it did," Santana admits openly. "It may not be permanent, but I think I'd like you to teach me how to fly."

"I will, once you learn some basic control," Charlie promises.


	71. Chapter 71

"You know, you should probably call your mother more," Santana says looking at Charlie, who crinkles his nose at the idea as he pushes the button to his father's office. "Yes, I'm aware you're an adult and you have a life, but think about how devastating it will be when Antonio's a teenager and doesn't want to speak to you?"

"My mother shipped me off to a boarding school at an early age," Charlie reminded her.

"Because you were a _menace_ and even _you_ admit that. Your parents couldn't control your magic, I mean we have to think of that possibility now that we're having a child together. One that already seems powerful. I almost feel sorry for Antonio, he wanted a minion not an evil genius vying for attention."

Charlie shrugged, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there, but I doubt you'll be for dropping our daughter off at school and not seeing her until the holidays. If she's anything like me, school and socializing will not be _easy_ for her. You learn to defend yourself quickly."

"If she's anything like you then we'll probably have a problem with her trying to do advanced spells at an early age, and blowing stuff up. I hope to god she doesn't find fire fascinating the last thing we need is more explosions and more _fires_ ," Santana gripes, ignoring the small smile that flits across Charlie's face.

"I haven't started a fire in years," Charlie reminds her.

"Yes, being your assistant has been quite _dull_ lately. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were treating me differently because I'm pregnant. You've certainly been far more attentive, more aware. A girl could get used to this."

"I did ask you to marry me without anyone's help," Charlie reminds her.

"You are aware that we do actually _need_ to pick a date, and you showing me a ring and just looking at me wasn't actually a question, right?" Santana retorts reaching to take his hand as the door opens. He looks slightly wounded at the accusation. "I know you were nervous, I mean I _could_ have said no. But I didn't."

"You didn't say yes either," Charlie points out.

"Well I was wearing the ring until my fingers got too fat for it," Santana rolled her eyes.

"I could have done a spell—"

"But I said no. Magic shouldn't solve all your problems. I mean look at everything you've accomplished without it," Santana interrupted him.

Charlie made another face, before moving to open the door to his father's office for Santana, brushing past his father's new assistant. Sebastian had finally moved on to bigger and better things. Or so his father insisted, he personally didn't get along with the man, he could barely remember his name half the time. As far as he was concerned he was Antonio's father and Sebastian was just sort of there. He quickly follows Santana and rushes forward to pull out a chair for her. She didn't like standing for that long, he knew it bothered her even if she never said anything. He had spent an inordinate time watching Santana these past few months trying to make sure she was comfortable. "Are you—"

"I'm fine, stop worrying," Santana says immediately turning to look at Russell who looked mildly irritated at their presence. She smiles, "We had a talk with Judy."

Russell scowled, he didn't need a reminder. Judy had been practically talking his ear off about this. "I never expected you to run to your mother."

Charlie spoke up before Santana could, "Well, I didn't expect you would help me without strings attached unless she was involved. Was I wrong? I have enough to worry about without getting involved in your schemes." Charlie gestures towards Santana, "In case you weren't aware, she's _pregnant_."

Santana rolled her eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we have to look for a new place to live! It means that I have to baby-proof the house! And you want a nursery, I'm also not allowed to use _magic_ because it bothers you," Charlie reminds her bluntly. "There's so much stuff to do and I still have all those books and you want to take me to parenting classes as well. I don't have time to get involved with whatever he's planning," Charlie nods.

Santana shakes her head, "I told Judy, I'm not going to allow you to bully _Charlie,_ I'm also not going to allow you to play on my fears. So, I simply levelled the playing field, besides all you've wanted was a grandchild, so as far as I'm concerned, you're getting what you want. You should be considerably more concerned with the fact that I'm apparently doing magic which may hurt the child."

Russell flicked his eyes over Santana for a moment, he studies her before shrugging. "Interesting. You're probably going to be fine."

"I spent the better part of four years breaking Charlie of saying _probably_ , so you're going to explain what's going on and clarify when you mean probably. Is it okay to use this magic? Am I taking it from the baby? Am I going to explode?" Santana demands.

"You're not going to explode, but it seems that the child growing inside you well their magic is mixing with your magic, and that seems to be enough to burn away some of the blocks that were put in place. You'll probably be fine, though from what I can see you'll probably _never_ be able to have any fine control over your magic. I'm saying probably because I assume you can work at it, whether that will be fruitful is another thing entirely. You'll probably die of exhaustion before then. It's something I should monitor for now, but a bit of magic and I can make you a seer like you were supposed to be, or we can simply put the blocks up so you don't inadvertently lash out with your magic. Your child needs a father, and I doubt you want to explain that you accidentally murdered him."

"Why would she murder me?" Charlie questions.

Russell doesn't dignify that with an answer as he turns to Santana, "The choice is completely up to you, but I suggest getting it done before the baby is born."

"So, magic is completely out for me?" Santana pressed immediately. He hadn't ruled it out.

"The spells that I'd need to put on you for you to become a _magician_ like Charles and Antonio are complex and the side effects are not something that you'd be able to live with, and there is a very good chance that it will kill you. Right now your latent magic and the baby's magic is mixing, the result is that it seems to be undoing some of what was done to you against your will, it's not complete which is why you have _no_ control. To be honest I have no idea if this is _permanent_ or if it's a temporary thing until the child is born. We can hope for the best, but if you continue to use your magic as you have been it will start eating at you. Why in the world did Charlie insist on teaching Antonio control and how much magic to use for basic spells."

"He did nothing of the sort, he taught Antonio how to fly. Which he doesn't even do all that well," Santana frowned for a moment and then turned to look at Charlie. "He also mentioned that you shot _lightning_ at him," she immediately smacks Charlie's arm hard. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that if he's going to defend himself he needs to be able to keep a shield up, one that could withstand one of my lightning strikes. If he could then he'd probably be able to withstand nearly everything else." Charlie says defensively.

Russell groaned, "Santana, personally if the decision was mine I'd take becoming a seer. You're smart enough and have the will to be able to control the abilities, as far as I'm concerned it was what you were always meant to be. It's how your body adjusted to what was done to you. I know how tempting it might be to say you want to leave things as it is but magic has a price on your body, one that you are simply not equipped to handle. You draw power and you take all of it, which means that you'll be tapping into another form of energy which just happens to be your life. You've been lucky so far, but I wouldn't expect that luck to hold."

"I can teach her—" Charlie starts only for his father to hold his hand up and stand up. Charlie watches as Russell approaches Santana and points to a few points on her body.

"You know enough about the magical pressure points, where our magic flows through. Hers are damaged something you've suspected for years, it's why when she uses magic she uses it all. You might be able to rehabilitate damage like that. I might be able to as could Antonio, we know how it feels and how to control magic. Santana has no point of reference, and are you willing to take that gamble?" Russell asks. "You _know_ how dangerous it is."

Charlie frowned slightly, "He's right," he said reluctantly. "You drained me, all of my magic _once_ , and I have a huge amount of magic. Teaching you would be dangerous—and I don't think I could lose you."

Santana nods, if Charlie thought it could be done safely he would have argued with his father. He would have argued with his father just because, but to see him agree it meant that there was little hope. But if she was going to have a magical family she was going to need to be one step ahead of them at all times. "Fine, I'll become a seer. But if you're going to do this Russell, there can't be any strings attached."

"That's not how it works, there's a price. I don't care—"

"The price is that you get to see your granddaughter," Charlie interrupts. "You get to be her grandfather and you get to teach her magic and spoil her. She's going to be my _wife_ , she's going to be your _daughter_ -in-law. She's _family_ , she's carrying your grandchild."

Russell narrowed his eyes at his son for a moment before sighing, "Very well. We'll do it this weekend, there are a few items that I need to procure before then. You'll have to learn to control your abilities quickly Santana." Russell opened a drawer in his desk and puts a heavy book in front of her. "I suggest getting through that at least once before we do this."

Santana stared at the massive book and then looked at Charlie for a moment, before groaning. She _hated_ having homework but if this was what it took. Then she'd do it.


	72. Epilogue

Bela stared at her mother who had her back turned to her and giggled, placing her hands on her mouth to keep it quiet. She toddles into the kitchen and stares at the cupcakes that her mother is making and sits down, a grin on her face as she raised her hands to make the cupcakes float towards her.

"Don't even think about it," Santana said reaching over to push the cupcakes down before Bela could ruin her dinner or run off with the cupcakes. To say that her daughter was _precocious_ would be an understatement. She was a devious little monster that had managed to get both her brother and Charlie wrapped around her fingers at such an early age. She snorts mostly to herself, she had no idea _how_ Bela had managed that. Antonio was a softy, but Charlie didn't trust little people and he certainly didn't exactly trust Bela, but all she had to do with him was bat her eyes at him and he'd cave.

Bela huffs, and instead holds out her hands. "Mama _up_!"

"No," Santana says firmly. She was getting far too big for that and she knew her daughter would simply try and sneak some more food. "You forget your mom has a _third_ eye, I can see everything in the past and present." Santana reminded her. It was an interesting ability which she tried not to hard to rely on, she didn't like how it made her feel. But it was incredibly useful when it came to parenting Antonio and stopping Bela in her tracks. It also helped her deal with her husband's fire habit. "Go find your father."

"No, _mama_ _up_!" Bela shouts.

Santana tilts her head as various pots and pans begin to rise and sighs turning to her daughter whose bottom lip quivered. She sighs, but remains firm. Bela was a _natural_ and she seemed to burn through any binding spell that they put on her abilities. It was something that worried her every day, Charlie managed to keep her abilities under control with his own, but that required a lot of concentration on his part. "Bela, we've talked about this no means no. You can't scare me with your magic," Santana reminds her.

"Mama!" Bela hiccups as the crocodile tears begin to fall. " _Up_!"

Santana is about to say no when Antonio arrives and scoops his baby sister up hugging her tightly as she squirms and tries to bat him away. "There's my favorite little girl," he said nuzzling her.

"Scratchy," Bela grumbles as she smacks him in the face and tries to push his face away. " _Mama_!"

"I agree, I thought Charlie was going to teach you to shave. I'm also certain that I told you not to use the hair growing spell on your face," Santana sighs.

Antonio shrugged, and placed Bela down watching as she quickly moves to hide behind their mother's legs. She sticks out her tongue at him and he can't help but do it in return. "Dad wants to know where the mermaid scales are."

Santana's body goes rigid for a moment. "It's in the drawer to his left. He's going to add too much, tell him to use half a cup, and to make sure that it's completely grinded to dust, before he adds it in," Santana says, the last thing she needed today of all days was for another small explosion. Antonio was supposed to be getting ready to meet with potential assistants, and she wanted everything to be perfect. This could be the _one_. The whole system had changed dramatically, and she was eager to see who he would choose. He was second in his class and would get to choose soon. "Also tell him to start getting ready for today, the whole family is going to be there."

"Yeah, no pressure or anything," Antonio grumbles shaking his head. It was no big deal, it was just an assistant, the assistant might not even be the one he had when he graduated, but his entire family was making it out to seem like they were going to get married or something. All because his aunts and Charlie had married assistants didn't mean he was going to. He simply wanted the _best_ assistant. If he hadn't gotten an A- minus on his paper on Gabino's principle he'd be going first.

"It's a big deal," Santana insists. "That's why you need to make a good first impression, you really don't want to make the same impression Charlie did on me," Santana says as she picks up Bela who was getting restless. "He looked like a maniac."

"He _is_ a maniac, and you still married him," Antonio reminds her.

Santana laughed, Antonio adored Charlie though he was beginning to see his flaws. He tried very hard to be the best father possible. He still forgot things all the time, "I did," Santana takes a cupcake and hands it to Bela who squeals loudly and begins to eat it. "I'm just happy for you, you're going to be able to find someone who might be your best friend, who you might fall in love with, who will probably keep you from blowing yourself up."

"I haven't caused an explosion in like a year!" Antonio protests turning slightly when Charlie lumbered in.

"Santana, I can't find—" he stops and looks at his family for a moment and tilts his head, before spotting the cupcakes. "Oh—"

"No."

"But—Bela has one," Charlie protests.

"Bela is _two_ you're a grown man," Santana reminds him ignoring his pouts. "Do you remember what day it is? Your clothes are a mess."

Charlie stares at Santana, helplessly for a moment and then looks at Antonio, "Did I forget our anniversary?" He mumbles to his step-son who grins at him widely. That didn't actually answer his question.

"You married him," Antonio laughs when Santana scowls at him. "It's the day I get my first assistant."

"So, it's _not_ our anniversary?" Charlie repeats making sure.

"Nope," Santana says with a roll of her eyes as she hands Bela off to Charlie when she makes a motion for him. "You need to get dressed Charlie and take her with you. Also tell Antonio what a big deal it is."

"You need to pick _right_ ," Charlie says first. "The best assistant might not have the _best_ grades, you need someone like your mother. The best assistant I've ever had," Charlie nods sagely as before taking a bite of Bela's cupcake causing her to yell in outrage. "She didn't go to that fancy assistant's school."

Santana shook her head, "Go get ready and fix Antonio's face, please he's too young to have facial hair," Santana grumbled. She still had several things to do. "Also, if you're going to be making whatever it is you're making, half a cup of ground up mermaid scales you can't just throw it in, you'll cause an explosion."

Charlie huffs at this, her seer abilities meant that he couldn't experiment as often as he would like. He had just wanted to see what would happen if he didn't add in the ground scales. "Okay."

"Good, now hurry up the family is going to be here soon, and I'd like to pretend that I have a handle on all three of you." Santana says stopping and turning to Charlie who had shuffled over. She gives him a quick peck on the lips. "Go."


End file.
